Before My Eyes: Battle City
by Richard Tsunami
Summary: My name is Richard Tsunami and I hate my last name. Follow me as I try to win the Battle City Tournament and I try to become the new King of Games... again. Inspired by DarkQueenofDuels's Bonded series. OC x Rebecca.
1. Not-so-blind date

**All right, everyone! Welcome to the second arc of the Before My Eyes series! If you are new here, be sure to check the Duelist Kingdom part first, so that you can catch up. If you already read it, then let's start this new part. The following takes place during **_**Steppin' Out**_**. I know I skipped a few episodes, but as I said in a Duelist Kingdom chapter, some fillers episodes where Richard won't appear or do anything useful will indeed be bypassed. Now, on with the story!**

* * *

"SAY WHAT?!" I yell.

Let me bring you up to speed: a couple of days ago (Author's note: think about this happening right after the events of _Dungeon Dice Monsters_) I happened to encounter Tea and after a few minutes of talking about random stuff she asked me: "Anyhow, now that I think about it I wanted to ask you a question"

"Shoot" I answered.

"Do you remember when Rebecca came to us in order to claim the Blue-Eyes White Dragon from Yugi's grandpa?"

I blushed a little. "Yeah. Why?"

"Well, I saw you blushing, just like right now"

"_Damn, she noticed it!_"

"I was wondering: is that because you like her or something?"

I looked at her with a honest look and with a genuine smile I answered her question with one of my own: "How come you girls always hit the jackpot when it comes to this stuff?"

She giggled. "Because you boys are so obvious!"

"That obvious?" I asked.

"If Joey figured it out by himself, I should say yes"

"Guess he didn't deserve that punch"

"Don't worry, he won't pay you back for that one"

"Well, thank God then: he's twice my height" I admit "Now I know how it feels like to be Yugi..."

We both laughed at that statement.

"I really needed that" I said after we both stopped laughing.

"Yeah, me too"

"Well, see ya then"

"Bye!"

After that we both left. Returning to the current situation, I'm now on the phone with - guess who? Tea! She apparently told Rebecca that I wanted to ask her out but I hadn't got her number (which is actually right, but still!).

"How did you even got her number?!"

"I asked Yugi, who asked his grandpa, who asked Arthur, who asked Rebecca!" she answered from the other side of the phone.

"Oh my God..." I say facepalming myself "I swear to God, next time I'll see you, I'm going to kill you"

"I don't think so. Probably you'll thank me. For the moment, enjoy your date: she expects you at 4.30 P.M. at the central square. Don't be late!"

And then she hangs up.

I lie down on my couch for a couple of seconds and then I call: "Jennifer!"

"Yes, master Richard?" she says coming out of a room and approaching.

I sit correctly on the couch and look at her. "I need your advice"

"Huh?"

"I understand your confusion, but this is really important. You see, I have a... a..."

Damn, I can't say the word! I'm too embarassed! But come on: it's Jennifer!

"Yes, sir?"

Finally I get the courage and say: "A date. In a hour and a half"

"Oh" she says joyfully "I'm so happy for you, master Richard"

"Thanks" I answer with a weak smile "Anyway, I called you here because I need your help in choosing the correct clothing for the occasion"

"Mmmmhhhh..." she mumbles "I think we can arrange something..."

* * *

After a few minutes I'm standing in front of a mirror: I'm wearing a dark blue sleeveless t-shirt with a white jacket; down under I have dark blue jeans with a black belt, my Deck Box containing my Deck attached on a spot on the right side, along with white shoes; I'm also wearing a silver necklace with a shark tooth attached to it and a silver onyx ring on my right middle finger (Author's note: From now on, Richard will always be dressed like this except in a few occasions that I can't tell yet because spoilahz!).

"How do I look?" I ask while she looks at me.

"As a professional woman I say that you look really good" she answers "As a girl I say that you're friggin' hot"

I blush at the compliment, then I look at her. "Jennifer, thank you so much. You're basically my family right now. I'm so happy to have you"

She remains silent for a second, then she says: "I'm happy too: last person I had to work for before master Pegasus had these kids about your age and they only wanted stuff, stuff and more stuff and I didn't know what to do"

"Pretty hard when you deal with kids, uh?"

"Yeah, actually. But then you came and I thought I was gonna start that thing all over again. But you're different: you act just like you are on your twenties or even more. Is it daring to ask why?"

I look away. "I'll tell you some other day: I don't want my day to be ruined with sad stories like mine"

"I'm sorry I bothered you"

"Oh you didn't" I quickly answer to make her feel less uncomfortable "It's just... I'm not feeling like telling you now"

"I understand. You have a date. Good luck, by the way"

I close my eyes for a second and then I smile. "Thanks"

* * *

When I arrive at the central square I see her sitting near the fountain: she's wearing a white shirt with a pink jacket and a green skirt along with a pair of glasses (Author's note: Think about her second Waking the Dragons's outfit). Man, if she's cute dressed like that!

"Uhm... hi" I shily say.

"Hi, Richard!" she says happily "Tea told me that you wanted to spend some time with me"

I can't answer so I simply nod.

"Before we do anything though, take my phone number"

She then handles me a piece of paper with her number and I place it in my pocket.

"So, what do we do?" she asks.

"How about we get an ice cream?" I finally say after a few seconds of thinking.

"Oooh, ice cream! All right!"

We then start to move. Why do I have the feeling of being followed?

* * *

"So..." I say as I slurp a little bit of ice cream "How long you and your grandpa are staying in Domino City?"

"For about a month, then we'll go back to America"

"I always wondered how does America look like..."

"Well, it's not complitely like when you see it in the movies, but sure it's a good place to live"

"I wish I could leave there one day..."

Then the silence. I slurp some ice cream in my mouth. Then she does. Then I do. Then she does. "Ahhhh, man! It's so embarassing!" I almost yell.

Then I notice everyone in the room's looking at me with annoyed looks. "Eheheh... sorry..." I chuckle blushing.

"Why are you embarassed?" she asks.

"Sorry, it's just that it's my first date and I'm a little bit unprepared"

"Oh really?" she says with a sneaky look "Then you're not prepared for THIS!"

And she takes her cup of ice cream and slams it right in my face. Oh my God, it cold! Very cold!

I see her laughing, so I take a napkin and I clean my face, then I look at her with an evil look. "Better for you if you take those glasses off..."

I see her face turning bright red and scared she slowly takes off her glasses. As she does I take my own cup of ice cream and slam it right in her face. Now it's my turn to laugh. She cleans her face and after a few seconds she starts laughing with me. It doesn't last enough though.

"GET OUT! BOTH OF YOU!" I hear the place's boss yell, scaring the hell out of us.

We start walking as we leave the place with a disappointed look. Once again, I'm feeling followed.

"Do you think we went a little too far?" I ask.

"Perhaps..."

After a few minutes she stops, as I do: we're now at the port.

"It's so beautiful..." she says looking at the sea.

I'm looking at another thing though: her hair, moved by the wind that hides part of her face and gives her a look of mystery and beauty at the same time. "It's you who's beautiful..."

"W-what?!" she asks blushing.

"N-nothing!"

I don't know who's redder right now. Great! I have no choice, I have to tell her now! "Rebecca"

"Yes?"

"Listen, I have to tell you something"

"What is it?"

"I, uhm... is that, uhm..."

"Hey, it's okay!" she says with a smile (I think she noticed that I'm sweating) "Take a deep breath and tell me what do you have to say"

I do as she suggested and, as I feel a little bit better, I start: "What I want to say it's that I-"

"OH RICHIEEEE!"

Oh God no! That voice!

After a few seconds I feel a couple of arms giving me a nasty bearhug as I start losing my breath.

"Richie, darling! I missed you so much!"

"W-who is she?" Rebecca asks with an irritated look "Your girlfriend?"

"N-not quite" I whisper as I free myself from the bearhug and look at the girl standing in front of us: she has my age, has piercing azure eyes and red long hair.

"My name is Luna Scarlett" she says with cockyness.

"We met at the orphanage" I explain "She's obsessed with me since then"

"Orphanage?!" Rebecca explains.

"Long story" I cut short "I'll tell you another time"

"Stop ignoring me!" Luna steps in "I'm not obsessed! I love you! Can't you see?"

Oh God, what do I do? I'm standing in front of a girl that is admitting that she loves me, but I do not, and on the other side there's the girl I love and that's looking both of us with blood in her eyes. I need to get out of this mess. "Look, Luna, it's not that I don't like you. You're pretty cute and all, but-"

"Then what you're waiting for?" she interrupts me "Come on, we can be together! Just you and me, Richie"

Did I mention that I hate when she calls me like that?

"Why don't you leave him alone?" Rebecca steps in "He's not interested"

"Mind your own business!" Luna answers looking at her with her eyes burning.

"Girls, please don't argue!" I try to say.

"SHUT UP!" they both yell at me.

"Sheesh..." I wshiper. I don't think to be cool enough to see two girls fighting for me.

"He just admitted that I'm cute" Luna continues "I don't need any other proove"

"Do you think that admitting that you're cute is enough to say that he likes you?" Rebecca asks "There is more than that: character structure, knowing each other..."

"We know each other for almost our entire life!"

"Does that prove anything?"

"It does prove that we know each other enough"

"Did you even talk to each other at least once?"

"Yes, we did!"

"About three times since now" I step in keeping my cool.

Here Luna is a little bit embarassed. "It's a start!"

"You're running a little bit too much, sis" Rebecca says "It's not like this that love goes"

"Call me 'sis' again, I dare you!"

Oh, Luna's getting fired up! Now things will get interesting. I would really like to have some popcorn right now!

"What if I do... sis!" Rebecca answers smirking.

"That's it!" Luna declares charging a fist.

Oh hell no! I quickly go in front of Rebecca and block Luna's fist before it hits home.

"R-Richie..." Luna says confused.

"Don't be cavemen" I say lowering her fist "You want to settle things out? Very well, then: have a duel"

Rebecca looks at me with a confused look and Luna smirks. "All right then. How 'bout we place a little ante, then?"

"Ante?" both me and Rebecca ask.

"If I win, Richard will become my boyfriend, but if I lose, I'll leave him alone"

"You can't manipulate heart with Duel Monsters!" Rebecca protests.

"No, it's okay" I step in "Accept the challenge"

"But... why?" she asks.

Luna laughs hysterically. "He's obviously sure that I'll win!"

"_On the contrary_" I think "_I know that Rebecca will win!_"

I smile and I wink at Rebecca: she smiles back. Perfect! She got it!

"All right, Luna: I accept your challenge!"

* * *

**And this first chapter of Battle City is over! Before I leave I would like to point out a few things: first of all, keep a particular focus on Luna's character, because it will become much more important later; second, in my first version of this chapter Richard was the one who should have dueled Luna, but then I decided to change it to Rebecca in order to make the conflict more interesting; this though means that the next chapter will take a little bit more time, because I need to rewrite the duel. Until then, hasta la vista!**


	2. Catduel

**The following takes place during **_**Obelisk the Tormentor**_**.**

* * *

We are now inside an abandoned place near the central square. There a rusted but functioning Duel Arena is placed. The two girls step on the platforms and place their Decks on the digital board, activating the machine.

**LP Rebecca 2000**

**LP Luna 2000**

"Now we're ready to duel!"Luna says grinning "You may go first!"

Rebecca nods silently and draws her starting hand plus a sixth card. "I Summon Takriminos in Attack Mode!"

A green reptilian fish monster appears on the field (ATK: 1500).

"Wait a minute! That's Richie's card!" Luna protests "Why you're using it?"

"It just happened that I don't have my Deck with me right now, so I had to borrow Richard's for this duel, and I assure you that I will use it at its best to defeat you!" Rebecca explains "My turn's over!"

"Why you little…" Luna curses while drawing her card and selecting the third one from her left "I Summon Plague Wolf in Attack Mode!"

A black wolf with bones sticking out of its corroding skin and red eyes appears on the field making a distorted howl (ATK: 1000).

"Why placing a monster like that on the field?" Rebecca asks.

"My monster has a special ability" Luna explains without removing that smirk from her face "I can double its attack for the whole turn"

The wolf howls again and it starts to increase in size before becoming a giant bipedal monstrosity that resembles a zombie-like werewolf, its attack power becoming 2000.

"Plague Wolf, attack with Underworld Slash!"

The now giant wolf starts rushing pretty fast towards Takriminos and slashes it with its mighty claws.

**LP Rebecca 1500**

**LP Luna 2000**

"After I attack with this card, I have to destroy it!"

As Luna explains this, the giant wolf howls in pain and shatters, leaving nothing on the field.

"What's the matter?" Luna asks with a mocking tone "It's your turn!"

Rebecca simply places the drawn card in Defense Mode without talking.

"I Summon Wolf Axwielder in Attack Mode!" Luna declares drawing a card and placing it on the field.

A white bipedal wolf carrying a shield and a giant axe appears on the field (ATK: 1650).

"Attack her face-down monster with Axe Slash Attack!"

Her monster runs rapidly towards Rebecca's concealed monster and hits it with its axe, revealing it to be Lightning Conger (DEF: 750). Unfortunately, it doesn't stand a chance against Wolf Axwielder, so it's destroyed.

"I end my turn"

Rebecca grunts. "It's my turn!" she says drawing a card "I Summon a monster in Defense Mode!"

"The match is still at its first phases and it seems like you're already being overwhelmed by my wolves" Luna comments with a smirk while drawing a new card and placing it on the field "Then how about I play another one? Giga-Tech Wolf!"

A mechanical wolf with three tails and bat wings appears on the field besides Wolf Axewielder (ATK: 1200).

"Now Wolf Axwielder will attack!"

Once again Luna's monster attacks and Rebecca's face-down monster, Turtle Tiger, gets destroyed (DEF: 1500).

"I'm sorry I'm destroying your monsters, darling" Luna comments addressing at me "But don't worry: I'll win this duel as fast as possible in order to have you!"

I simply stare at her without changing my expression while Rebecca grunts in disgust. "I'm sorry, but you won't win!" she says drawing her card "I use Polymerization to fuse Bottom Dweller and Tongyo to Summon Deepsea Shark!"

The first two named monster appear on the field for a brief second before starting spinning and leaving in their place a purple shark with a red belly and a sapphire on its forehead (ATK: 1900).

"Its attack power is higher than Wolf Axwielder!" she states "Attack it now!"

The mighty shark rushes towards Luna's wolf and chomps it quickly, causing its destruction.

**LP Rebecca 1500**

**LP Luna 1750**

"It's my turn" Luna says drawing a card "First I'll change my Giga-Tech Wolf into Defense Mode"

The mechanical wolf produces a distorted sound that it seemed like a howl and kneels (DEF: 1400).

"Next I'll place Gene-Warped Warwolf to the field!" she continues Summoning the card drawn at the start of the turn.

A white werewolf-like creature with four arms and a long black and pink mane appears on the field (ATK: 2000).

"Oh no!" Rebecca cries "Now Deepsea Shark stands no chance!"

"That's right!" the other simply answers as her monster slams down Deepsea Shark, destroying it.

**LP Rebecca 1400**

**LP Luna 1750**

Rebecca draws silently and stares at the card for a long time. Has she drawn something good?

"First I'll play Turtle Bird in Attack Mode!"

A pterodactyl-like monster with a turtle shell appears on the field (ATK: 1900).

"Then I'll combine it with Steel Shell, increasing its attack power by 400!"

The monster's shell becomes suddenly blue and its attack power rises to 2300.

"Winged Assault!"

Turtle Bird flies up and comes down after a few seconds, striking down Gene-Warped Warwolf.

**LP Rebecca 1400**

**LP Luna 1450**

"I did it!" Rebecca chirps "Now we're even!"

"Grrr… curse you!" Luna says angrily while drawing a new card "First I'll Summon Silver Fang in Defense Mode"

The beautiful white-furred wolf appears on the field howling (DEF: 800).

"Then I play the Ritual Magic Card Synthesis Spell!" Luna declares suddenly turning serious and showing us the card she drawn at the beginning of her turn.

All of a sudden a weird looking dome-shaped machine appears, a human figure visible inside.

"With that card you can sacrifice monsters whose total Level sum is 6 or more and transform the man inside that thing!" I exclaim.

"That's right!" Luna answers "This will form the strongest monster in my Deck! I Tribute Giga-Tech Wolf and Silver Fang!"

I simply watch as the soul of the two animals get inside the machine and sorround the body of the human inside it. In a matter of seconds, it starts to morph, its skin manifesting a blue fur and its head turning wolf-like. After a few seconds, the man is complitely transformed into a giant werewolf, which breaks the machine and jumps to the field with a howl (ATK: 2400).

"Meet my Lycanthrope!" Luna finally declares "A monster that is stronger than Turtle Bird! Shadow Slash!"

Lycanthrope runs towards Turtle Bird before slashing it with its claws.

**LP Rebecca 1300**

**LP Luna 1450**

"And there's more!" Luna adds "Since my Lycanthrope just dealt damage to you, you lose 200 Life Points for each Normal Monster in my Graveyard!"

"You have four Normal Monsters in your Graveyard!" Rebecca cries startled.

"So that's 800 points of damage" I state.

Lycanthrope howls agin and the souls of Wolf Axwielder, Giga-Tech Wolf, Gene-Warped Warwolf and Silver Fang appear for a brief second before sorrounding the beast's paw. The werewolf then rushes towards Rebecca and hits her with her new power.

**LP Rebecca 500**

**LP Luna 1450**

"What's the matter? Where's that overconfidence you had before?" Luna asks before laughing hysterically.

"_I hate to admit it, but Luna's strategy is perfect_" I think "_She slowly placed a few Normal Monsters in her Graveyard while using high attack power monsters before recurring to her ultimate weapon. How will Rebecca take down this beast?_"

* * *

**Altered cards:**

**Plague Wolf  
Level 3  
Beast-Type  
DARK  
ATK 1000  
DEF 1000  
Effect: Once per turn, you can double this card's ATK until the end of the turn. If this card battles, destroy it after the Damage Step.**

**And that last line is also the question I'm giving you 'cause I'm ending the chapter right now! Please don't hate me for this! Anyway, the altered cards are cards that exist in the OCG/TCG and I have altered something of it, for example here I altered Plague Wolf's Type (whose OCG/TCG one is Zombie) and its effect. Each altered cards I'll do will keep its altered stats for the whole series. If I can do it, I'll post the next chapter between Monday and Tuesday. Until then, hasta la vista!**


	3. Preparing for Battle City

**The following takes place during **_**Obelisk the Tormentor**_** and **_**Stalked by the Rare Hunters**_**.**

* * *

**LP Rebecca 500**

**LP Luna 1450**

Rebecca is still struggling to find a way to beat Luna's Lycanthrope (ATK: 2400). At the moment she's using my Deck, so I know that there is. The real question is: will she be able to find it?

"It's your turn" Luna says calmly with her trademark smirk printed on her face.

Rebecca draws silently and places the drawn card on the field. "I play this in Defense Mode!"

Luna follows her example, but the card she Summons is in Attack Mode. "Pitch-Black Warwolf!"

An armored black bipedal wolf holding a sword appears on the field growling (ATK: 1600).

"And then the Magic Card Mystical Moon!" she declares as the giant moon appears on the field "This card increases the attack points of Lycanthrope by 400 points!"

Lycanthrope howls at the sight of the moon and the latter shines a bit, sorrounding the beast with a yellow aura that makes it growl as its muscles grow wide, its attack power increasing to 2700.

"Lycanthrope, Shadow Slash!"

The now powered up werewolf obeys at its master's command, destroying Rebecca's monster, which is Hyosube (DEF: 900).

"I suppose that with that your turn's over, so it's my turn" Rebecca states drawing a card "I place a monster in Defense Mode!"

"Then Pitch-Black Warwolf will attack it!"

The face-down monster is Fairy of the Fountain (DEF: 1100). One quick slash from Warwolf's sword and it is no more.

"I'm done once again. Play another monster so that I can destroy it!"

Luna's acting very confident, but if I had a setup like that I would as well.

Rebecca silently draws her card and then selects the last two on her left. "I place one card face-down and Summon Great White in Defense Mode!"

The humanoid shark appears on the field roaring (DEF: 800).

"Is that a Trap?" Luna asks drawing her card "Then I inform you that during the Battle Phase my Pitch-Black Warwolf's special ability enables you from activating any Trap Card"

"_Did you foreseen this, Rebecca?_" I think.

"Lycanthrope, attack Great White with Shadow Slash!"

Great White gets quickly destroyed by Lycanthrope. Oddly, Rebecca doesn't seem to care.

"You're barely standing with 500 Life Points and your pitiful defense" Luna comments with a mocking tone.

Rebecca doesn't answer her provocation. Why? Perhaps that face-down card she placed isn't a normal Trap Card!

"All right! I place a monster in Defense Mode!" Rebecca declares.

"Are you still planning to fight?" Luna asks a little bit surprised "Very well"

She draws her card and looks at it. I don't like that smile!

"I activate Linear Accelerator Cannon" she declares smirking.

All of a sudden a giant cannon appears on the field. Pitch-Black Warwolf then turns into a yellow energy wave that enters into the cannon.

"This card allows me to Tribute my Warwolf and then deal damage to you equal to half of its attack points."

"Are you sure about that?" Rebecca asks activating her face-down card "I use Spell Shield Type-8!"

A weird looking device appears on the field.

"It allows me to negate the effect of your Magic Card and destroy it!"

"Say what?!"

The cannon blasts the hit, which gets deflected by a shield created by Spell Shield Type-8. The blast returns to the cannon itself, breaking it into pieces.

Then, all of a sudden, the power ends, making the holograms disappear.

"What's this? A power cut?" Rebecca asks.

"Everybody, look outside!" I say pointing at one direction.

We three go out and see the face of Seto Kaiba on a giant screen.

"What's the meaning of this?" Luna asks.

I see that lots of people is standing still watching Seto with attention. Did he gathered everyone here?

"Fellow Duelists, listen carefully!" he says "In one week, in this very same town KaibaCorp will host a Duel Monsters tournament!"

Everyone cheers.

"Duelists must meet two prerequisites: He must have a Deck of 40 cards, with at least one rare card; he also must have in possession this new Duel Disk"

As he says that the camera focuses on a weird looking blade-like device on Seto's left arm.

"Duels will be played by Battle City rules, plus an ante rule: the loser must give the rarest card in his Deck to the winner. In other words, the final champion will acquire the rarest cards of everyone"

Everybody cheers again. Then in front of our eyes, a KaibaCorp chopper comes from above, Seto on it.

"The stage of the battle will be all of Domino City!" he shouts pointing a finger at the sky "In one week, this town will become Battle City!"

As said that, the chopper flies away.

I look at Luna and Rebecca. "What will you do?"

"I'm so going to participate!" Luna says excitedly.

"What about you, Rebecca?"

"I don't think so" she answers "Probably I won't be sticking around during the final phases of the tournament. I need to return to America to attend college"

She goes to college?!

"What about you, Richie?" Luna asks impatiently.

"I will be participating, so I need to prepare my Deck for the new rules. Rebecca, if you please"

She hands me my Deck and I slowly start going towards home, but then Rebecca stops me. "Wait!"

I turn around and I see her a few inches from me, Luna nowhere to be seen.

"Before Luna interrupted us, you had something to tell me" she says "What is it?"

I open my mouth to start talking, but then I remember what Rebecca said to Luna before: "You're running a little bit too much. It's not like this that love goes"

I close my mouth and smile. "It was not that important. I will tell you someday, but let's just say today's not the day"

I then turn around and start walking.

* * *

It's been six days since Seto's announcement and I finally finished my Deck and I also managed to test it against Jennifer three times: won every single time. It's a good start! Today's the day I'm getting my Duel Disk!

"All right, Jennifer! Let's go!"

"Wait a minute"

I turn towards the young woman. "I have an idea" she says "How about you go with Rebecca?"

I smile. "That's a very good idea! Thank you!"

I then grab my phone and dial the number. "Hello? Rebecca? Yeah, it's me. I'm going to buy a Duel Disk for the tournament. Do you want to come with me?"

Silence from Jennifer's POV.

"Thank you!" I finally say happily "Then I'll see you where we encountered last time!"

I open the door of the shop and we both get greeted by a guy with sunglasses and an orange bandana.

"Welcome!" he says.

"Hi. Do you happen to have any Duel Disk remaining?" I ask.

"Oh, you must be one of the Duelist that will fight tomorrow in the tournament" he says "There have been lots of customers like you in the past few days. Can I please ask your name?"

"Richard Tsunami"

He quickly tapes on the keyboard of his PC while repeating my name. "Ah! You're pretty strong! KaibaCorp classifies you as a Level 7 Duelist!"

He turns the PC so that I can see. It's written everything there: my name, my rarest card (Daedalus) and my Duelist's Level.

"All Duelist above Level 5 can receive a Duel Disk for free!" he says handing me a box with the picture of a Duel Disk on it.

"Wow, thank you very much!" I say taking the box.

* * *

"So, how was your week?" Rebecca asks.

"Very busy, actually" I answer "It was very hard to make a Deck with these new rules"

"How did it go?"

"Luckily I've done it in three days, but I changed it pretty much entirely: only a few cards I used before are in this new Deck"

"I assume you'll keep Daedalus"

"Of course" I say "It's my greatest treasure"

I see Rebecca turning sad. But only for a brief second as her face then becomes a mask of fear. I turn in order to understand why and, after I look at the figures standing in front of us, I realize it.

* * *

**All right, I suppose all of you need some clarification: even though I posted last chapter today I wrote it a couple of days ago and yesterday I began writing this. I said that I would have been posted this next week but, since I managed to complete this and the last chapter was a little bit shorter, I decided to give you this as well. Don't expect me to do this every time, though! Now, who can be the mysterious figures standing in our heroes' way? Probably you already figured it out, but you'll fully know only in the next chapter. Until then, hasta la vista!**


	4. Duel in the night

**The following takes place during **_**Stalked by the Rare Hunters**_** and **_**Yugi vs. The Rare Hunter**_**.**

* * *

They are looking at us with malice: three purple cloaked figures blocking our path.

"It's been a long time, Richard Tsunami" the central one says.

"Rare Hunters..." I simply reply.

"Huh? Rare Hunters?" Rebecca asks.

"They are very known in the Underground Dueling World: they're a group of people that duel using fake cards and take the opponent's rarest card in case of victory. They once asked me to join them... but of course I refused"

"That's why we're here" the Rare Hunter says "To make you reconsider the proposal"

I smirk. "What if I refuse... again?"

He smirks as well. "Then I challenge you to a duel!"

He then removes his cloak from the front of his torso, revealing that his left arm has a Duel Disk already activated. "We'll use Battle City rules, but instead of betting our rarest card, we'll bet your Dueling life: you lose, you're ours!"

I close my eyes and smile a little. "That's fine by me"

"Richard!" Rebecca cries.

"Don't worry, I'll kick his butt in 3, 2, 1, don't worry..."

Then I take the Duel Disk from the box (it's a lot more light than it seems actually) and I activate it while placing my new Deck inside.

"LET'S DUEL!"

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Rare Hunter 4000**

"I'll go first!" the Rare Hunter says drawing his card "First up I Summon Marauding Captain!"

A blond man dressed in an armor and carrying two swords appears on the field (ATK: 1200). All of a sudden, from behind him, a purple and red vortex appears, before it forms a scary looking clown (ATK: 500).

"Another monster appeared!" Rebecca states.

The Rare Hunter chuckles. "When Marauding Captain is Summoned, it allows me to Summon Masked Clown to the field"

"I thought you would have Summoned more powerful monsters than those two" I comment while drawing my card "It's my turn now! I Summon Unshaven Angler!"

A blue angler with a very long beard appears on the field (ATK: 1500).

"Darkness Lure!"

As my command is told, my monster goes towards Marauding Captain and eats it.

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Rare Hunter 3700**

"I thought that a Rare Hunter was better than that..." Rebecca comments a little bit worried.

"Just as I thought, you've improved a lost since last time we met" the Rare Hunter says drawing his card "I Summon Marauding Captain!"

The same monster from before appears (ATK: 1200). This time, from behind him, a soldier armed with all sorts of weapons appears (ATK: 750): it's Cyber Commander.

"Again with this? What are you trying to do?" I ask.

"Don't rush. Everything will be clear for you later" the Rare Hunter answers "It's your turn"

"You don't need to tell me" I say while drawing my card "Unshaven Angler, attack Marauding Captain with Darkness Lure!"

The same scene from before happens.

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Rare Hunter 3400**

The Rare Hunter chuckles again. "I was waiting for this moment!"

"What?!"

He doesn't answer, but he draws a card. "I Tribute Masked Clown to Summon Sphere of Chaos!"

A black sphere with a blinding light appears on the field (ATK: 1600).

"Allow me to explain its effect" the Rare Hunter says "When Sphere of Chaos is Summoned, it allows me to add one Level 3 monster from my Deck to my hand. I choose my Marauding Captain, of course. Then I activate Double Summon, in order to Summon my Marauding Captain, followed by Dharma Cannon!"

Marauding Captain appears for a third time (ATK: 1200). Then, from behind him, a red apparatus with a cannon appears (ATK: 900).

"Oh no, Richard!" Rebecca cries.

"Now, Sphere of Chaos, attack Unshaven Angler! Roll Out Attack!"

The sphere starts rolling until it collides with Unsheven Angler, causing its destruction.

**LP Richard 3900**

**LP Rare Hunter 3400**

"And now that you don't have any monsters on the field, I attack you directly with my three monsters!"

Dharma Cannon, Marauding Captain and Cyber Commander rush towards me and hit me all at once.

**LP Richard 1050**

**LP Rare Hunter 3400**

"_Tsk! I need to concentrate!_" I think as I get up.

"I place one card face-down and end my turn. What's wrong? I thought you were better than this!" my opponent says laughing maniacally.

I smirk. "Do you want me to get serious?"

This question leaves the Rare Hunter a little bit worried, so I continue with a glare. "Then I will! For my turn I Summon Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness!"

A blue armored warrior from the sea holding a lance appears on the field (ATK: 1800).

"Attack Marauding Captain with Depths' Lance!"

My monster throws its weapon in direction of Marauding Captain but... "Activate Trap Card! Negate Attack!"

The Rare Hunter's Trap stops my attack and I grunt. "I place one card face-down and end my turn!"

He draws silently and looks at the card. "Looks like this will be the end" he says placing it on the Duel Disk "I activate Reflect Energy! It allows me to sacrifice my Cyber Commander, so that my Sphere of Chaos can attack you directly!"

Sphere of Chaos starts spinning but I stop it dead on its tracks. "Activate Trap Card! Negate Attack!"

I smirk as I see my opponent grunting as I activated the same card he did.

The Rare Hunter then ends his turn, so I draw my card and I activate it instantly. "I activate the Magic Card Double Attack! By discarding the Level 7 Levia-Dragon – Daedalus from my hand to the Graveyard, my monster can perform two attacks this turn!"

"Say what?!" the Rare Hunter exclaims as Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness first destroys Marauding Captain, then Dharma Cannon.

**LP Richard 1050**

**LP Rare Hunter 1900**

"I place one card face-down and end my turn!"

"Then it's my turn!"

As he draws his card I see him smirk. "I activate Pot of Greed, in order to draw two cards"

As he looks as his new cards he says: "Yes! First I Summon Lucky Trinket!"

A weird looking seven-legged monster appears (ATK: 600).

"Then I activate another Reflect Energy! By Tributing my Trinket I can attack you directly with Sphere of Chaos!"

I chuckle at the statement. "I activate my face-down card! Spell Shield Type-8!"

"What?!"

Once again, the question has no answer as my Magic Card's effect destroys Reflect Energy.

"Now you cannot attack me directly" I say smirking "It's my turn"

As I draw the card I place it in the Duel Disk. "I'm winning the Duel right now! I activate Water of Life! This card brings back my Daedalus!"

My ace monster appears on the field (ATK: 2600). Then I order to my Warrior of Darkness to destroy Sphere of Chaos and it does so.

**LP Richard 1050**

**LP Rare Hunter 1700**

"Now you have no monsters on the field" I state "Daedalus, attack directly with Water Blast Attack"

My monster's attack hits the Rare Hunter, sending him backwards.

**LP Richard 1050**

**LP Rare Hunter 0**

"No!" he screams.

"You lost the duel! Now go away before I get really angry!" I warn them with a glare.

The Rare Hunter gets up and declares: "It's not over yet, Tsunami! Master Marik will find you!"

He then flees along with his two partners.

"Master Marik..." I mutter.

Before I say something else, I feel Rebecca's face burying in my chest. "I was so afraid!" she cries.

I blush a little, but I decide to caress her hair in order to comfort her. "It's all right, don't worry: they're gone now" I say with a soft tone "Come on, I'll take you home"

She stops crying and we go towards her hotel.

* * *

"Finally!" I say as I get up "The tournament will start soon!"

"Master Richard" Jennifer calls entering in my room "Breakfast is ready"

"Thank you! I need to be charged if I want to do well in this tournament!"

"Best of luck then. I will cheer for you!"

"Thank you, Jennifer"

She then goes out and I start dressing up.

* * *

While I head towards the main square I see fireworks in the sky: wow, they prepared even this?!

I reach the central point of the square and get greeted by a familiar voice. "Richard!"

"Rebecca!"

Indeed, it is her, along with Yugi and Mai.

"What are you doing here?"

She blushes a little. "Well, I uhm... uhm..."

"Let's say she wanted to stay a little bit with you while you advance in the tournament" Mai answers for her.

"MAI!" both me and Rebecca yell.

Both Yugi and Mai laugh at our embarassment.

"Anyway, where's Joey?" I ask after the laughing stops.

"He should be here by now" Yugi answers.

"So he is participating!" Mai exclaims in excitement "So he's also one of the chosen Duelists!"

"Hey, long time no see!"

The voice we hear are from Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood, that approach us with anger.

"Listen, you're gonna pay for what you did to us at Duelist Kingdom!" Rex exclaims.

"If you think it will be as easy as before, you're sorely mistaken!" Weevil adds "My Insect Deck powered up since our last encounter!"

"I'd figured you guppies would have been out causin' trouble again!"

Oh look, it's my brother...

"Hi, Mako..." I simply say without caring.

"Tsk... At least you're polite..." he says.

"Are you starting something?"

"What if I am?"

"Then I will take you down from the tournament right here, right now!"

As I say so, I activate my Duel Disk.

"Hold on!" Mai steps in "You each have a starting point, so if you meet, you'll duel, but you can't right now!"

"You're right..." I mutter cursing while deactivating the Duel Disk. Man, I really wanted to kick his butt!

* * *

After a few minutes, me and Rebecca reach my starting point, just in time to hear Seto's announcement. "Fellow Duelists, welcome to Battle City! I will now explain the contest's rules: those who came here were chosen by KaibaCorp as Level 5 or higher Duelists. The Duel Disk in your arm are proof of that. The stage of this tournament is the entire town of Domino City: if two Duelist come face to face, they may fight! Each Duelist will use a 40 cards Deck. The loser must surrender a rare card of the winner's choice! In this Battle City as you win your Deck will get stronger! Only eight contestants will make it to the finals!"

Wow, only eight?!

"As for the location of the finals, it is hidden somewhere in the city, and because I want to participate fairly to this contest with everyone, even I don't know where the finals will be held. Before we start, take a look at this plate"

I take out the glass plate that was in the Duel Disk and look at it.

"This plate is a Locator Card! When all Locator Cards from the participating Duelists are gathered, a map of Domino City is revealed. These cards have a special prismatic coating: if you stack six of them, a light will shine on a certain spot on the plate. That spot is the location of the finals! And there's one more rule: the winner of each Duel will get the opponent's Locator Card! Those who collect six Locator Cards, can reach the unknown location of the finals! Now Battle City may begin! Scatter across the city and locate your enemies!"

I look at Rebecca and then at my Deck. "_Now... it begins!_"

* * *

**Aaaaaand it ends... the chapter, I mean. Don't worry, I'll post the next one soon enough, since I already scripted all the Duels Richard will have during Battle City. Until then, hasta la vista!**


	5. Along came a spider

**The following takes place during **_**Espa Roba – The ESP Duelist**_**.**

* * *

We've been walking for at least ten minutes, but for some strange reason, we couldn't find any Duelist.

"There must be another way to locate them!" Rebecca says as we stop for a second.

"Wait a minute!" I exclaim "Locate! That's the magic word!"

"Huh?"

"I forgot that the Duel Disk has a Duelist Searching System!"

"Really?" she comments a little bit annoyed "We could have used it before..."

"Sorry!" I answer as I ativate the Searching System.

* * *

After a few minutes we arrive in front of a large crowd.

"Do you think what I think?" I ask to Rebecca.

"Yup. Duelist located"

We enter the crowd together and we see two people Dueling: one of them is Gary, the kid I Dueled at Duelist Kingdom; the other one is a blond guy with a purple shirt with a spider motif on it. Wait a minute, that's Koji Nagumo, the Spider Duelist!

**LP Koji 4000**

**LP Gary 800**

"Thanks my Lair Wire Trap Card your puny Zoa is destroyed!" Koji says.

"How is this possible?!" Gary exclaims sending Zoa to the Graveyard.

"It's over, kid! Mother Spider, attack directly!"

A giant purple spider on Koji's field steps towards Gary and hits him with its leg sharp as a blade.

**LP Koji 4000**

**LP Gary 0**

"4000 to 0!" one member of the crowd exclaims as the others start to mutter about the duel.

"Now, kid!" Koji orders as he approaches Gary "Hand me over your rarest card and your Locator Card!"

Poor Gary handles him Zoa and his only Locator Card.

"This is a good card, but I can't use it in my Spider Deck" Koji comments as he takes the card before turning towards the audience "Well, who's next?!"

I see lots of Duelists from the crowd stepping away. Cowards!

"I am!" I announce as I approach the two Duelists.

"Richard, don't do it!" Gary says getting up "He has the strongest Insect Deck in the world, second only to Weevil Underwood!"

"This should be very interesting then..." I say with confidence.

"Richard?" Koji asks "The Underground King? That's interesting for me as well. Let's duel!"

I activate my Duel Disk with a smirk as Rebecca cheers: "Do your best!"

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Koji 4000**

"I'm going first!" he says drawing a card and taking the second one on his right "I Summon Spyder Spider!"

A purple and yellow spider with a weird spy device on its head appears on the field (ATK: 1500).

"I end my turn"

"Looks like it's better for me to Summon a monster" I comment drawing a card, which is Mirror's Curse. I add the card to my hand, which also contains Torpedo Fish, Shadow Spell, Cannonball Spear Shellfish, Amphibious Bugroth MK-3 and Levia-Dragon - Daedalus.

"For my turn I Summon Torpedo Fish!"

A green mechanical fish appears on the field (ATK: 1000).

"Next I place two cards face-down and end my turn!"

"I assume you'll activate those cards as soon as I attack, right?" Koji asks drawing a card "I sacrifice Spyder Spider to Summon Hunter Spider!"

A brown spider with six legs on its chest appears on the field (ATK: 1600).

"Now!" I declare "I activate my Trap Card Shadow Spell!"

All of a sudden shackles emerge from the card and trap Koji's new monster, its attack power decreasing to 900.

"Too bad" he comments "I activate Remove Trap!"

The spider breaks free from my Trap Card and its attack returns to normal.

"Now I attack with Hunter Spider!"

The legs on the spider's chest start to stretch as they go towards my monster.

"You fell for it!" I exclaim "I activate my face-down Mirror's Curse!"

"Impossible!"

A giant demonic mirror appears, separating our monsters, each side of the mirror reflecting the monster it's facing.

"Mirror's Curse switches the attack and the defense points of two monsters, one I have and one you have!" I explain.

"This is bad!"

All of a sudden the mirror switches and the reflections face the opposing monsters, my monster's attack points becoming 1600 and Koji's 1000. Since the attack has already been declared Torpedo Fish charges towards Hunter Spider and hits it with its forehead, causing its destruction.

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Koji 3400**

"You negated the effect of the wrong card, Koji!" I exclaim.

"It's just a little error" he says as he gets up "I haven't lost a single Duel up until now! You'll be my next victim! I place one card face-down and end my turn!"

"_Good! Now Koji has got no monsters on the field!_" I think as I silently draw my card. "I Summon Amphibious Bugroth MK-3!"

A red scuba diver-like robot appears on the field (ATK: 1500).

"My monsters have a total of 2500 attack points!" I explain "Time for some serious damage! Go, my monsters! Attack together!"

"I won't let you!" Koji declares as my monsters move towards him "I activate my face-down card Earthen Spider Statue!"

A giant statue resembling a spider appears on Koji's side of the field (DEF: 2500).

"A Trap Monster!" I exclaim.

"That's right!" Koji says chuckling "This Trap Summons itself as a monster to protect my Life Points!"

"_He's planning to sacrifice it!_" I think as I look at the card I drew at the start of the turn, which is Torrential Tribute. "_This Trap Card will deal with you!_ I place this face-down on the field and end my turn!"

"Then it's my turn!" he says drawing a card "First I activate Card Hexative!"

All of a sudden my face-down card gets pinned down by some chains.

"This card enables your face-down card from activating" Koji explains as he takes the card he drew at the start of the turn "I Tribute Earthen Spider Statue to Summon Mother Spider!"

The same huge spider as before appears on the field (ATK: 2300).

"_This is bad!_" I think "_Mother Spider's attack power is too high!_"

"Before I attack I use this!" Koji says taking the first card on his right "Insect Armor with Laser Cannon! This increases my Mother Spider's attack power by 700!"

The metal armor gets equipped to the spider, its attack power increasing to 3000.

"Now attack with Laser Cannon!"

The cannon fires a blast that hits my Torpedo Fish.

**LP Richard 1000**

**LP Koji 3400**

"I took some good damage with that attack..." I comment as I get up "What do I do?"

"It's your turn!" he says chuckling "But you can give up if you want"

"Give up?!" I exclaim offended "Like hell I will! It's my move!"

I draw Ghosts From the Past. Good card, but I can't use it now!

"I Summon Cannonball Spear Shellfish in Defense Mode!"

The weird mollusk appears on my field (DEF: 1000).

"Then I switch Bugroth to Defense Mode and place this card face-down!"

"What are you planning to do?" Koji asks "Mother Spider, destroy that Bugroth of his!"

Once again, the blast hits and my Bugroth is destroyed.

I draw my card silently and place it on the Duel Disk. "I Summon Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness in Defense Mode and end my turn!"

The sea warrior appears on my field (DEF: 1500).

"You have no chance to win!" Koji says drawing a card "Mother Spider, annihilate his Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness!"

Mother Spider launches its attack and destroys my monster.

"Then I follow up with this!" he declares activating the card he drew at the start of the turn "I use Power Collapse! This card decreases my Mother Spider's attack power by the attack of your monster until the end of the Battle Phase and it can attack again. And my next target is Cannonball Spear Shellfish!"

As Mother Spider's attack power decreases to 1200, it attacks and destroys my Shellfish.

"Just give up, you have no chance to win!" Koji says with confidence.

"We'll see!" I answer "This is my last turn!"

I silently draw my card and place it on the Duel Disk. "I activate Submerged Treasure! By destroying 1 Magic or Trap Card I have on the field, I can draw two cards!"

I destroy my Torrential Tribute as I do so.

"Now I use my Magic Card Underworld Sacrifice! It allows me to remove monsters from my Graveyard instead of Tributing monsters" I explain "I remove two monsters to Summon Levia-Dragon – Daedalus!"

My ace monster appears on the field (ATK: 2600).

"Then I follow up with my face-down card Ghosts From the Past! This allows me to remove two monsters from my Graveyard and reduce your Mother Spider's attack power to 0!"

"Say what?!"

Mother Spider falls on his knees as it gets weaker.

"Now, Daedalus, attack Mother Spider!"

My ace monster launches its attack and Mother Spider is instantly destroyed.

**LP Richard 1000**

**LP Koji 800**

"And now to finish you off!" I say holding up my last card "I use Power Collapse!"

"WHAT?!"

"That's right, I have that card too! But in this case your monster's attack power was 0, so I guess my Daedalus will attack you will full strength!"

"Impossible!"

"Water Blast Attack!"

Daedalus fires the final blow at Koji, who falls to the ground defeated.

**LP Richard 1000**

**LP Koji 0**

"YES!" Rebecca cries coming out of the crowd and hugging me from behind and making me blush.

"It can't be... I lost!" Koji yells falling to his knees.

Finally Rebecca lets me go and I approach him. "I won. Give me your Locator Card and your Card Hexative"

"Damn! How could I have lost?!" he yells as he gets up "I can't forgive you!"

He then tries to punch me but, as his rage makes him slower, I easily dodge him and I make him trip.

"Don't you dare to use cheap methods on me, big boy" I say getting angry "Give me your cards now!"

He is a bit scared so he handles me his Locator Card and Card Hexative.

"Good. I'm off now. Let's go, Rebecca"

"Yes!" she answers as we both get out of the crowd.

* * *

After a few minutes we stop at a bench and we sit. "You got a very good card" Rebecca comments.

"Yup!" I answer while looking at it "Card Hexative is a very powerful card that blocks the opponent's face-down cards. It will be very useful"

"There's still a question I want to ask you: why you didn't take his Mother Spider?"

I look at her smiling. "Two reasons: first, my Deck is a WATER Deck, so Mother Spider won't be very useful; second, I know that card is very precious to Koji, he simply doesn't know it. Still, I can decide which card from the opponent I may take so I'm not cheating or anything"

"Yeah, you're right"

"And with this, I only need four more Locator Cards and I will go to the finals!"

* * *

**Altered cards:**

**Power Collapse  
Quick-Play Spell Card  
Effect: Activate only when your opponent destroys an opponent's monster by battle. Decrease the ATK of your monster by the ATK of the destroyed monster until the end of the Battle Phase. After this effect resolves, that monster may attack again this turn.**

**Fan-made cards:**

**Mirror's Curse  
Quick-Play Spell Card  
Effect: ****Select 1 monster you control and 1 your opponent controls. Switch those monster's ATK and DEF until the end of the turn.**

**Submerged Treasure  
Normal Spell Card  
Effect: Destroy 1 Spell/Trap Card you control: Draw 2 cards.**

**Underworld Sacrifice  
Normal Spell Card  
Effect: Activate when you would Tribute Summon a monster. Banish monsters from your Graveyard instead of Tributing monsters. You can only activate 1 "Underworld Sacrifice" per turn.**

**And this is how it ends, for now. I actually think that the characters could have been a lot more selective on the card they could take from the opponent: Seto specifically says that the winner can ****choose**** which card to take, so I'll use this as my advantage. Two Locator Cards earned, four more to go. Until then, hasta la vista!**


	6. Bark at the Moon

**The following takes place during **_**Playing with a Parasite**_**.**

* * *

"So, how's Joey doing?" I ask from the phone.

"He's doing fine. He already collected one Locator Card" Tea answers from the other side.

"Well, best of luck then. How about Yugi?"

"I don't know. We didn't manage to find him yet"

"I think he's doing great"

"Yeah... I hope..."

"Something's wrong, Tea?"

There's a little bit of silence, then: "No... nothing"

She then hangs up.

"What was that?" Rebecca asks.

"I don't know. She seemed a little bit... off"

"Maybe she's worried about Yugi"

"Yeah, probably"

I then get up from the table where we were sitting while having a (very good) cup of ramen. "I think we can continue searching Duelists now: I need to Duel four more"

"You're right, I totally didn't realize how late it is!"

"It's okay, don't worry"

I once again use my Searching System and discover that the nearest Duelist is in a zone near us. "Looks like this is our lucky day: only two minutes away from here"

"Perfect! Then let's go!"

* * *

We reach the place and find that there's a Duel in progress: one of the Duelists controls no cards, while the other one, female, controls Lycanthrope (ATK: 2400). Wait a minute! Lycanthrope?!

**LP Luna 1200**

**LP Opponent 600**

"Lycanthrope, attack directly!"

The giant beast obeys at its master's command and the unknown Duelist falls to the ground.

"Yes! I won!"

"Good job, Luna"

She turns and sees us. "Richie! It's been a while!"

"_It's been only a week actually..._"

My thoughts are interrupted as she reaches towards me and hugs me tightly making me slightly blush. "Ooooh I missed you so much!"

I can feel Rebecca from behind me getting all red with rage so I escape from Luna's grip. "It's time to see if you improved since last time I saw you Dueling!"

"Oh yeah!" she says activating her Duel Disk "My Wolf Deck has improved a lot since our last meeting!"

"Let's see if it can keep up with my WATER Deck!" I answer activating my own.

"LET'S DUEL!"

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Luna 4000**

"Ladies first!" she declares as she draws her card and places it on the Duel Disk "I Summon Silver Fang in Defense Mode!"

The beautiful white furred wolf appears on the field howling (DEF: 800).

"I end my turn!"

"My turn! I draw!" I declare "I Summon Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness!"

A blue armored warrior from the sea holding a spear appears on the field (ATK: 1800).

"Attack Silver Fang!"

My monster launches its spear towards Silver Fang and destroys it. Too bad, I really liked that card.

"It's my turn now!" Luna says drawing a card and placing it on the Duel Disk "I Summon Giga-Tech Wolf in Defense Mode!"

A mechanical wolf appears on the field (DEF: 1400).

"I guess it's my turn again!" I comment drawing my card "I Summon Great White!"

The humanoid shark that Yugi gave me appears on the field (ATK: 1600).

"Great White, attack Giga-Tech Wolf!"

My monster rushes towards Giga-Tech Wolf and crushes it with its sharp teeth.

"Now I attack you directly with Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness!"

This time the spear hits Luna, who falls to the ground.

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Luna 2200**

She gets up smirking. Why is she smirking? "As expected from you" she says drawing a card "Summoning two monsters like that and damage my Life Points. And I bet you've got more to show... but I do as well!"

"What do you mean? What did you draw?"

She shows it to me before placing it on her Duel Disk. "I call out Gene-Warped Warwolf!"

A four-armed white furred werewolf with a black and pink mane appears on the field (ATK: 2000). It quickly jumps into action and destroys my Great White.

**LP Richard 3400**

**LP Luna 2200**

"It's your turn now" Luna says calmly.

I draw my card silently and show it to my opponent. "I Tribute Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness to Summon Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness!"

A giant orca holding a carrier and a few Cannonball Spear Shellfishes on its back along with a Torpedo Fish on its belly appears on the field (ATK: 2100).

"Now I attack your Warwolf! Go with Deepsea Crash!"

The orca rushes towards Warwolf pretty fast and hits it with its tail, destroying it.

**LP Richard 3400**

**LP Luna 2100**

"I can feel your strength" Luna comments placing her hand on top of her Deck "But I also feel that in this turn I will draw my key card and turn the tables"

She then draws her card and smirks. "Let me show you my most powerful beast" she says holding up the drawn card "I activate the Magic Card Synthesis Spell! With this card I Tribute monsters from my hand or field whose total Level sum is 6 or more and I Summon a Ritual Monster from my hand"

A giant dome-like machine with a man inside appears on the field.

"I Tribute Wolf Axwielder and Pitch-Black Warwolf from my hand!"

The two monsters appear for a brief second before turning into energy and entering inside the weird machine.

"With this, I Summon Lycanthrope!"

The human inside the dome starts changing shape, becoming the giant werewolf that is Luna's ace monster (ATK: 2400).

"Shadow Slash!"

Lycanthrope howls and slashes Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness with its claws, causing my monster's destruction.

**LP Richard 3100**

**LP Luna 2100**

"And don't forget about my monster's special ability! With it, I can deal 200 points of damage to you for each Normal Monster in my Graveyard. And currently I have four"

Lycanthrope runs towards me and hits me with its claws as it did before with my monster.

**LP Richard 2300**

**LP Luna 2100**

"This is the monster that will defeat you" Luna says smirking.

"Nonsense!" I answer drawing my card and activating it instantly "I use Silent Doom to bring back Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness to the field in Defense Mode!"

The sea warrior appears again, this time on its knees (DEF: 1500).

"Let's end this!" my opponent says drawing a card "I use Stop Defense! This card switches your monster to Attack Mode!"

In horror I see my monster getting up.

"Lycanthrope, attack Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness!"

The mighty creature rushes towards my monster and destroys it.

**LP Richard 1700**

**LP Luna 2100**

"Now before I end my turn, you'll take 800 points of damage thanks to the four Normal Monsters in my Graveyard!"

Once again, Lycanthrope hits me.

**LP Richard 900**

**LP Luna 2100**

I get up and silently draw my card. "I activate the Magic Card Underworld Sacrifice! By removing Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness and Great White from my Graveyard I can Summon a Level 7 monster"

Luna gasps. "Do you mean-"

"Come out, Levia-Dragon – Daedalus!"

My ace monster appears and growls at Lycanthrope, which growls back (ATK: 2600).

"Daedalus, attack Lycanthrope! Water Blast Cannon!"

Daedalus fires its attack and destroys Luna's ace monster with ease.

**LP Richard 900**

**LP Luna 1900**

"I place one card face-down and end my turn" I finish.

"It's my turn then!" she says drawing a card "With this I will put an end to this duel!"

She then takes the card following up the one she drew "I activate Fulfillment of the Contract! By paying 800 Life Points I can bring back a Ritual Monster from the Graveyard!"

Lycanthrope appears again with a powerful howl.

**LP Richard 900**

**LP Luna 1100**

"Then I use the Magic Card Mystical Moon!" Luna declares holding up the card she drew at the start of the turn "It increases Lycanthrope's attack by 300!"

Lycanthrope howls again as the golden moon appears, its attack power increasing to 2700.

"It's time I end this duel for good! Lycanthrope, attack!"

The menacing werewolf dashes towards Daedalus and destroys it with a quick slash of its claws.

**LP Richard 800**

**LP Luna 1100**

I see Lycanthrope rushing towards me. If Luna manages to activate its effect, I will lose the Duel! "This is not over!" I exclaim "I activate the Trap Card Damage Lamp!"

"What?!"

A giant golden lamp appears in front of me as Lycanthrope hits it instead of me.

"This card allows me to negate any kind of damage I would take. And after that my Lamp stays on the field" I explain with a smirk.

"Then why didn't you used it before when I attacked?" she asks.

"Because if I would have done that, I wouldn't have my victory assured"

"Huh?"

"Let me show you! It's my turn!" I declare drawing a card and placing it on my Duel Disk "I activate Water of Life to Summon back Daedalus!"

My ace monster appears to the field again.

"Then I use the second effect of my Damage Lamp!" I declare "By sending it to the Graveyard I increase my monster's attack power by the damage I negated with this card's effect until the end of the turn!"

"You what?!"

Too late: from the lamp a purple fog is already coming out sorrounding my Daedalus, its attack power increasing to 3400.

"Attack with Water Blast Cannon!"

My ace monster fires its attack and destroys Lycanthrope.

**LP Richard 800**

**LP Luna 400**

"And lastly I use Power Collapse! By decreasing my monster's attack power by the attack points of your monster, it may attack again! Go with Water Blast Cannon!"

Daedalus's attack power decreases to 700 and attacks Luna directly.

**LP Richard 800**

**LP Luna 0**

"That was a good duel" I comment as I approach her "You almost got me there"

"Almost, but not quite" she answers "And now you'll take my Lycanthrope"

"Who said anything about your Lycanthrope?" I ask "I don't want any of your cards"

She looks at me with a confused look.

"I know you put lot of effort building that Deck of yours and I won't be the one demolishing it. You can keep your cards, though I can't say the same for your Locator Card"

In response Luna gets up and handles me the Locator Card.

"I still have one" she comments "I will do my best!"

"I'm sure you will"

She then smiles and gives me a little kiss on the lips before turning away and leaving.

I stand still for a second, a little bit astonished and with my cheeks burning red. I see Rebecca looking at me with fire in her eyes. "Don't look at me like that, please" I say.

* * *

**Altered cards:**

**Power Collapse  
Quick-Play Spell Card  
Effect: Activate only when your opponent destroys an opponent's monster by battle. Decrease the ATK of your monster by the ATK of the destroyed monster until the end of the Battle Phase. After this effect resolves, that monster may attack again this turn.**

**Fan-made cards:**

**Underworld Sacrifice  
Normal Spell Card  
Effect: Activate when you would Tribute Summon a monster. Banish monsters from your Graveyard instead of Tributing monsters. You can only activate 1 "Underworld Sacrifice" per turn.**

**Damage Lamp  
Continuous Trap Card  
Effect: Activate only when you would take damage. Negate the damage. During either player's turn, you can send this face-up card you control to the Graveyard, and if you do, 1 monster you control gains ATK equal to the damage negated by this card's effect until the of the turn.**

**Ah, teenagers. Anyway, this is where this chapter ends. Didn't think that Luna would have appeared once again this fast, did ya? Next chapter will advance the plot a little bit. Until then, hasta la vista!**


	7. I hate worms!

**The following takes place during **_**Double Duel**_**.**

* * *

"I'm telling you there's nothing between us!"

"Yeah, right"

"I swear!"

This is the third time I'm try to explain to Rebecca the reason behind that quick kiss that Luna gave me after our duel.

"Do you think I had the time to shove her away? I didn't even know she would have done that!"

She starts giggling. "All right, I believe you. But just because I can't be angry with you"

Oh thank God!

Our conversation is then interrupted by the figure standing in front of us: Rare Hunter!

"Long time no see, kid" he says.

"You again? What do you want?" I ask unimpressed.

"Master Marik wants you to be part of the Rare Hunters... and a 'no' is not an option"

"Who's this Marik?"

"I already told you: he's our boss. He needs you for something even I don't know about. So, come with us"

He then stretches his hand out, but I slap it. "Forget it!" I answer "Tell your boss he can screw himself!"

"I thought you would have answered like that" he says smirking. He then turns on his Duel Disk. "I also compete in the Battle City tournament, so we'll duel for this!"

I make a smirk of my own. "You're on, punk!"

We both draw our starting hand without adding anything.

"LET'S DUEL!"

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Rare Hunter 4000**

"I will let you go first" he says.

"Good luck, Richard!" Rebecca cheers.

I silently draw my card and slide it into the Duel Disk. "I place a card face-down and Summon Torpedo Fish in Defense Mode!"

A green mechanical fish with red fins appears on my side of the field (DEF: 1000).

"You seem to be a passive opponent" the Rare Hunter comments "You won't beat me like that. It's my turn. I draw!"

He then selects the second card on his right and places it on the Duel Disk. A purple quadruped monster with four yellow eyes and six tentacles on his back appears on his field (ATK: 1500).

"I Summon Worm Dimikles and I use it to attack your Torpedo Fish!"

The monster's tentacles start stretching and going towards my monster.

"I activate the Trap Card Forgotten Temple of the Deep!"

All of a sudden the ground starts shaking and a stonehenge-like structure appears in front of us manifesting a little lake inside it where the monsters are battling. As the water forms Torpedo Fish dives inside it dodging the tentacles.

"This card allows me once per turn to hide one of my monsters into the water!" I explain smirking "You cannot attack what you cannot see!"

"I didn't think you'd use a troublesome card like that..." he comments "I end my turn!"

As my Torpedo Fish comes out of the water I look at my deck and I declare: "It's my turn. I draw!"

As I see the card I drew I place it aside and select the card next to it. "I Summon Cannonball Spear Shellfish in Attack Mode!"

A red slimy monster covered with a pointed shell appears on my field (ATK: 1000).

"What tricks are you planning?" the Rare Hunter asks me.

"You'll see. My turn is finished"

"Don't think I'll go easy on you. It's my turn and I draw!"

I see him smirking as he looks at his new card. "I place one card face-down and end my turn!"

"It's my turn!" I declare "I draw! _I obviously know that he didn't attack because I can hide one of my monsters underwater. But that face-down card worries me. _I sacrifice my Cannonball Spear Shellfish and I Summon Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness!"

A giant orca having what it seems like a hangar on its back appears on my field (ATK: 2100).

"Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness, attack Worm Dimikles!"

My orca dives into the water and comes out under Worm Dimikles with its mouth open, resulting on my monster eating my opponent's.

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Rare Hunter 3600**

"That was awesome, Richard!" Rebecca chirps.

"That was pretty awesome indeed, I have to admit it" the Rare Hunter says.

"Torpedo Fish, it's your turn!"

My command is heard by my monster as he rushes towards my opponent... but at the last second it turns and hits me instead.

**LP Richard 3000**

**LP Rare Hunter 3600**

"It seems like I have to go a little more serious on you" the Rare Hunter comments "I've activated my Magic Card Spell of Pain, which allowed me to send the damage back to you"

I growl as he declares:"It's my turn now, so I draw!"

As he draws his card, he places it on his far right and selects the card near it. "I activate the Magic Card Void Slip! Thanks to this card I send one of the cards in my hand to the Graveyard and I destroy one of your monsters!" he explains as a black hole forms behind Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness.

"Quick, Orca! Dive underwater!"

Strangely, Orca doesn't manage to dive as the power of the black hole prevents it from doing it. It then sucks my monster inside and disappears.

"My card's effect cannot be negated by any card" my opponent explains.

"Oh no!" Rebecca says.

"And now I Summon Worm Tentacles in Attack Mode!"

A yellow monster resembling an octopus appears on the field (ATK: 1700).

"Worm Tentacles, attack Torpedo Fish!"

His monster's tentacles start reaching towards my monster but I command him to dive underwater, so the attack is negated.

"It doesn't matter. Because of my monster's effect, by removing my Worm Dimikles from the Graveyard, it can attack again!"

I clench my teeth as his monster's tentacles crush me for a second as my opponent laughs. "Your restistance is useless!" he says "In the end, it's you who will lose!"

**LP Richard 1300**

**LP Rare Hunter 3600**

"My turn is finished"

As those words are said, Torpedo Fish comes back to my field from the water.

"_I cannot lose!_" I think "For my turn I draw a card!"

As I see it I slide it in my Duel Disk. "I activate the Magic Card Abyss Assault! This card allows me to Summon one Level 5 or 6 WATER monster from my hand without sacrificing anything first!" I explain as I take the first card on my right and place it on my Duel Disk "I Summon Giga Gagagigo!"

My armored reptilian monster appears on the field (ATK: 2450).

"Giga Gagagigo, attack Worm Tentacles!"

My monster rushes towards his and punches it, resulting its destruction.

**LP Richard 1300**

**LP Rare Hunter 2850**

"Torpedo Fish, attack directly!"

My monster's dorsal fins start spinning like propellers and it allows Torpedo Fish to quickly reach my opponent and attack him.

**LP Richard 1300**

**LP Rare Hunter 1850**

As my monster comes back I see the Rare Hunter smirking at me.

"_I need to keep calm_" I think "_I have the upper hand at the moment and it needs to be like this for the rest of the duel._ I end my turn!"

"Then it's back to me. I draw!"

As he draws his new card he slides it immediately in his Duel Disk. "I activate the Magic Card The Dark Door!" he declares "This card allows both of us to attack only with one monster each turn"

He then selects the first card on his right. "I place a monster in Defense Mode and end my turn!"

"_I have a bad feeling about this..._" I think.

"This will soon be over..." he says chuckling.

"It's my turn now, so I draw!" I declare "_His monster is in Defense Mode, so I don't know how much defense points it has. __But I doubt it will be stronger than my Giga Gagagigo._ Giga Gagagigo, attack his monster in Defense Mode!"

My monster rushes towards his concealed monster, which is revealed to be a pink spiked worm, and destroys it (DEF: 600).

The Rare Hunter chuckles. "I activate the effect of the Needle Worm you just destroyed. With it, you must now send five cards from the top of your Deck to the Graveyard"

I gasp for a second but then I obey.

"Now it's my turn" my opponent declares "I draw!"

As he sees his new card he smirks. "I use Graceful Charity! This card allows me to draw three cards and discard two"

As he eschanges his cards his lips curve into a creepy smile. "Time for me to go all-out on you!" he declares "I activate the Continuous Magic Cards Battlefield Tragedy and Gravekeeper's Servant!"

"Battlefield Tragedy... and Gravekeeper's Servant?!" I repeat with a terrified look.

"That's right. As long as Battlefield Tragedy stays on the field, if a player attacks, before his first attack he must send five cards from the top of his Deck to the Graveyard" he explains "Also, with Gravekeeper's Servant, everytime you attack, you must send the top card of your Deck to the Graveyard, for a total of six cards!"

"You're planning on destroying my Deck!"

"Correct!"

"Oh no! This combo will be hard to break!" Rebecca says.

The Rare Hunter chuckles as he selects another card. "I place a monster in Defense Mode!" he declares "And now it's time for you to suffer the effects of my combo! I end my turn!"

"Then it's my turn! I draw!" I say "I need to clear your field as fast as possible until you run out of monsters! I send the top six cards of my Deck to the Graveyard and attack your monster with Giga Gagagigo!"

The monster reveals itself as a worm-like monster covered in some sort of black slime (DEF: 0).

"What a cruel and useless act!" the Rare Hunter comments.

All of a sudden his monster appears again on the field.

"When Worm Jetelikpse is destroyed while in face-down Defense Mode I can Special Summon him back instantly!" he explains "And after this action you only have 17 cards left! And now it's my turn again, so I draw! I Summon Shield Worm in Defense Mode!"

A brown and orange worm appears on the field (DEF: 2000).

"When Summoned it allows me to send one card from the top of your Deck to the Graveyard equal to the number of 'Worm' monsters I control, in this case two!"

"What?!" Rebecca exclaims as I send the top two cards of my Deck to the Graveyard.

"And now you have only 15 cards left" my opponent says "I end my turn"

"It's my turn now. I draw!" I declare "I send the top six cards of my Deck to the Graveyard and use Giga Gagagigo to attack Shield Worm!"

My monster quickly rushes towards it and delivers a punch, easily destroying it.

"I end my turn!"

"You only have 8 cards left now! In the next few turns your Deck will be complitely destroyed! Now it's my turn, so I draw!"

As he sees his drawn card he chuckles. "I could simply end my turn now, but I want to finish the game faster!" he says placing the drawn card on his Duel Disk "I Summon Warm Worm in Attack Mode!"

A dark red worm with a flaming crest on its head appears on the field (ATK: 600).

"Attack Torpedo Fish!"

"Is he crazy?!" Rebecca asks "Torpedo Fish has more attack points that that monster!"

My monster quickly rusheds towards his and destroys it.

**LP Richard 1300**

**LP Rare Hunter 1450**

"I may have lost Life Points, but I activate Warm Worm's effect!" the Rare Hunter declares "When Warm Worm is destroyed, my opponent must send three cards from the top of his Deck to the Graveyard!"

"But this means Richard will have only 5 cards left!" Rebecca says.

"With it it's over" my opponent says "When you'll draw you'll only have 4 cards in your Deck, meaning you cannot attack me anymore. Then all I need to do is wait for four turns and everything will be over! But for now I end my turn"

He then chuckles. "I thought the Underground King was better than that!"

"Don't listen to him!" Rebecca cries "You can still win!"

I look the floor for a second and then I look at my opponent. "I won't give up!" I declare "It's my turn! I put all my faith in this card! I draw!"

* * *

**Altered cards:**

**Shield Worm  
Level 4  
Insect-Type  
EARTH  
ATK 800  
DEF 2000  
Effect: When this card is Summoned, send 1 card from the top of your opponent's Deck to the Graveyard for each "Worm" monster you control.**

**Forgotten Temple of the Deep  
Continuous Trap Card  
Effect: This card's name is also treated as "Umi". Once per turn, during either player's turn, you can remove 1 WATER monster you control. During the End Phase of the turn, Special Summon that monster. (Author's note: This card's removing effect is Spell Speed 2)**

**Fanmade cards:**

**Void Slip  
Normal Spell Card  
Effect: Discard 1 card and send 1 monster your opponent controls to the Graveyard. Cards or effects cannot be activated in response to this card's activation.**

**Abyss Assault  
Normal Spell Card  
Effect: Normal Summon 1 Level 5 or 6 WATER monster from your hand with no Tributes.**

**And this is how it ends... for the moment, at least. What do you think is the card Richard drew? You'll only know in the next chapter. Until then, hasta la vista!**


	8. Duel of love - Part I

**The following takes place during **_**The Rescue**_** and **_**Friends 'til the End**_**.**

* * *

I pull the card out of the Deck and stay in the same position for a few seconds without looking at it.

"What will you do?" the Rare Hunter asks.

I look at the drawn card and smile. "I sacrifice Torpedo Fish and Giga Gagagigo to Summon Levia-Dragon – Daedalus!"

"What?!"

My ace monster appears on the field roaring (ATK: 2600).

"There was only one card in my Deck that could break your combo!" I say.

"What are you talking about?!"

All of a sudden the water under Daedalus starts spinning as my monster roars once again.

"I activate the effect of Levia-Dragon – Daedalus!" I declare "When there is a Water Field along with Daedalus, it creates a deadly vortex that obliterates every other card on the field!"

The vortex keeps increasing its strength as it sucks away every single card on the field besides Daedalus. After a few seconds the only card left on the field was Daedalus itself.

"I attack with Daedalus! Water Blast Cannon!"

My monster obeys my order as it fires the attack against the Rare Hunter.

**LP Richard 1300**

**LP Rare Hunter 0**

I silently approach the Rare Hunter as I take his Locator Card and the Spell of Pain card. I hear him chuckling. "What's so funny?" I ask.

"Do you think I haven't got a backup plan?" he says with his voice altered, a Wedjat Eye appearing on his forehead.

Before I can ask him questions I hear Rebecca screaming. I turn around and I see her being captured by a couple of other Rare Hunters and get dragged inside a chopper that was approaching.

"You bastard, what are you doing?!" I ask angrily.

"Allow me to introduce myself" the Rare Hunter says "My name is Marik and I'm controlling this guy's mind thanks to the power of the Millennium Rod"

"Just what do you want with me?!"

"When someone goes into the Underground Dueling World, only two roads are in front of him: join the Rare Hunters or perish. You're the greatest Underground Duelist, therefore you must join the Rare Hunters"

"I already told your minions I'm not going to join you!"

"Very well then. This means your girlfriend will die"

I am losing my patience. "Where are you taking her?!"

He chuckles in response. "If you really want to know, I'm taking her to the Domino Pier. I'm giving you one chance to save her life"

The Rare Hunter then faints.

* * *

I arrive at the Pier fifteen minutes later. My God, how much I ran! What I see though, frightens me a lot: Joey, Tea and Rebecca are staring at me, a blank expression on their faces.

"Richard!"

Yugi runs towards me from a spot as he calls my name; Seto and Mokuba are with him.

"You've been pretty fast, Richard" Rebecca says with a smirk, her voice being the same as the Rare Hunter's.

"Rebecca!" I exclaim "_She's controlled by Marik! And probably even Joey and Tea..._"

"So this is Marik's power..." Seto observes from behind me.

"Rebecca, you have to wake up!" I say.

"Wake up?" she asks "I'm wide awake, enough to beat you to a pulp!"

"_It's no use! She's complitely controlled!_" I think.

"You can't run from me or this Duel, a Duel with our lives at stake, fighting until our last breaths!"

"Rebecca, Marik is controlling you to convince me to join the Rare Hunters"

She ignores me. "Follow me. The stage for our Duel of Death is over there"

"No matter what you say, you cannot escape this Duel" Joey says with the same voice.

"Rebecca has become my puppet and her emotions and memories are being controlled by my anger!" Tea continues.

Me, Yugi and Seto follow them and arrive in a place under construction: there is a wooden field with an anchor attached on top of some strings, right above us.

"This is the place..." I state observing the environment.

"Before the Duel begins, you will each attach those handcuffs to your ankles" Tea says doing said action to both me and Rebecca "The anchor above you weights 600 pounds! When either player's Life Points drop to 0, it will fall"

"Now look at your feet" Rebecca says "That box contains the key to the handcuffs and it will open when the opponent's Life Points will go down to 0"

I look at the box and see a counter, set on 4000 Life Points.

"This means that before the anchor drags both of us to the depths only one can escape"

"I'm not Dueling under these conditions!" I declare, my eyes filled with tears.

"The anchor will still fall down by itself in within 40 minutes" she says "In that scenario, we'll both sink"

"If you want to save Rebecca, all you have to do is lose" Tea says "And when you'll do, you'll join the Rare Hunters and Yugi will give me his Millennium Puzzle and Egyptian God Card!"

Egyptian God Card?! That Egyptian God Card?! One of the three most powerful cards in the game?! And Yugi has one?!

I see Seto's face becoming a mask of fear. "I can't accept this!" he declares "I will not let Marik do what he wants with my tournament!"

"This is not a tournament Duel!" Joey states "Rebecca doesn't have any Locator Cards. We gave her a Duel Disk, but not any kind of partecipation requirements in order to enter the tournament. So better stay in your place, Seto Kaiba!"

Seto backs off groaning.

"I almost forgot" Rebecca says "This is an ante game! Yugi, give Slifer the Sky Dragon to Richard!"

I see Yugi throwing me a card, which I catch: so this is a God Card...

"Put the Slifer card on the floor!"

I obey.

"Now only the victor may lay a finger on the God Card!" Rebecca says activating her Duel Disk.

"LET'S DUEL!"

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Rebecca 4000**

"You get to go first!" Rebecca declares.

I silently draw a new card and place it in the middle of the other cards I have. "_How can I fight the girl I love knowing that both our lives are at stake!_" I think.

"Hurry up and Summon a monster!" Rebecca yells impatiently.

I groan and take the second card on my right. "Amphibious Bugroth MK-3 in Defense Mode!"

A red scuba diver-like robot appears on my field (DEF: 1300).

"I... end my turn..."

"My turn, here goes!" she says drawing a card "I play Raigeki!"

All of a sudden a thunderbolt hits my monster and destroys it.

"Next I call out Ruby Dragon!" she declares placing the second card from her left to the Duel Disk.

A red version of Luster Dragon appears on the field (ATK: 1600).

"Attack him directly!"

A quick claw attack and I lie on the floor.

**LP Richard 2400**

**LP Rebecca 4000**

"What's wrong? I thought you were better than that!" she says laughing "Come at me, Richard!"

"It's my turn!" I declare drawing a card and placing it on the Duel Disk "I Summon Aqua Madoor in Defense Mode!"

The masked mage appears on my field (DEF: 2000).

She chuckles and draws a card. "It's useless to defend in front of me! I'm gonna use this against you!" she declares showing me the drawn card "Hinotama!"

From the card a huge fireball appears and hits me.

**LP Richard 1900**

**LP Rebecca 4000**

"What?!" I hear Seto exclaim "Magic Cards that directly damage the player are banned!"

"I added a ton of illegal cards printed by my Rare Hunters in Rebecca's Deck" Joey says "No one using a store-made Deck can beat this Deck!"

"How's it feel, the power of Hinotama?" Rebecca mocks me "It's your turn!"

I know she isn't completely fell into Marik's spell. I'm going to save both of us! "I draw my card!"

I then scan my hand. "_I don't have anything powerful that can stand up to that monster. I need to strengthen my defense and buy some time!_"

I then take the third card from the right, which is Shadow Spell, and I declare: "I place this face-down! And following that I play Torpedo Fish!"

I place the first card on my right on the Duel Disk and the mechanical fish appears. (ATK: 1000).

"Torpedo Fish? Are you kidding me?!" she asks angrily "If my monster attacks yours, you're going to take a serious hit!"

I don't say anything.

"Looks like you're risking your life to save me" she observes smirking.

"I won't die, Rebecca" I answer "And I won't let you die either!"

She chuckles. "This duell will end when one of us will. Now go, Ruby Dragon, attack Torpedo Fish!"

As her monster quickly rushes towards mine, I declare: "I play my face-down card! I protect Torpedo Fish with Shadow Spell!"

The dark shackles appear from the card and Ruby Dragon gets captured, its attack power decreasing to 900.

"That won't work against her Deck of illegal cards!" Seto exclaims.

"It doesn't matter if I play a monster or not" Rebecca says taking the first card on her right "All I need to do is pulverize your Life Points! So how about I use this again? Hinotama!"

The fireball hits me again.

**LP Richard 1400**

**LP Rebecca 4000**

I hear her laughing histerically. "It seems like my Deck has been powered up too much!" she says "I don't even need monsters!"

"_What do I do?_" I think "_What do I have to do to bring you back, Rebecca?_"

I silently draw my card which is Levia-Dragon – Daedalus. I add it to my hand, which also contains Order to Charge, Double Attack, Spell Shield Type-8 and Negate Attack. "I sacrifice my two monsters to Summon Levia-Dragon – Daedalus!"

My ace monster appears on the field (ATK: 2600).

"I'm sorry, Rebecca... but I have to do this!" I declare, tears coming out of my eyes "Daedalus, attack with Water Blast Cannon!"

Daedalus fires its attack and hits Ruby Dragon.

**LP Richard 1500**

**LP Rebecca 2300**

"That attack was nothing!" Rebecca says smirking.

It's no use! Looks like I have to go another way. I didn't want to do this now, but it may be the only way to free Rebecca!

"How long are you going to stall?!" she asks annoyed "I use Hinotama!"

The fireball hits me for the third time.

**LP Richard 900**

**LP Rebecca 2300**

I get up and say weakily: "Rebecca... I don't think... I can take your Life Points down to 0..."

"Then I will!" she answers taking the second card from her right and placing it on the Duel Disk "I activate Tribute to the Doomed!"

I start walking towards her.

"This card destroys any of your monsters as long as I discard one card from my hand!"

I continue walking as my ace monster gets wrapped in bandages and dragged down into the ocean from a demonic hand.

"How's that?!" she says smirking.

I finally arrive in front of her. "I want to tell you something" I say placing my hand on her cheek.

As I do so, I see her eyes shining once again. Is she back again? I don't know, but I must continue if I want to save her.

"I... love you, Rebecca..."

She looks at me with surprise as both our cheeks turn red.

* * *

**Finally, Richard confessed his feelings! But Rebecca is controlled by Marik. Will this be enough to undo Marik's spell? You'll find out next time! Until then, hasta la vista!**


	9. Duel of love - Part II

**The following takes place during **_**Friends 'til the End**_**.**

* * *

"You… love me?" Rebecca asks in surprise. She hasn't got that warped voice anymore: it's her!

"Yes" I answer "I didn't want to tell you in this scenario, but… since probably one of us is going to die… I wanted you to know"

I see tears coming out of her eyes. "Richard…"

She then turns her head for a second and, when she faces me again, she has that blank expression again. "Love won't help you in this duel" she says with the voice of Marik "Just return to your place and continue the duel"

My face turns sad again and I obey. "_I only have 20 minutes before the anchor drags both of us into the ocean_" I think "_I can't give up now. I'll find out a way to save us both in this little time_"

"It's your turn!" she says as I get into position again.

"_Step by step Marik's spell is going off_" I think "_I don't have much time, so I'll fight 'til the end!_"

I then silently draw my card, which is Mad Lobster. "_I hope this works_" I think "I place two cards face-down and Summon Mad Lobster in Attack Mode!"

A red lobster with a demonic face and a pair of giant pincers appears on the field (ATK: 1700).

"_Forgive me, Rebecca. _Mad Lobster, attack directly!"

The lobster closes its right pincer and delivers a powerful punch to Rebecca.

**LP Richard 900**

**LP Rebecca 600**

"It's my turn now!" she says drawing her new card and placing it on the Duel Disk. "I Summon Luster Dragon!"

A blue humanoid dragon appears on the field (ATK: 1900).

"Attack Mad Lobster!"

Luster Dragon launches from its mouth a fire attack, aiming at my monster.

"Activate Trap Card! Negate Attack!"

She makes a surprised face as her attack is blocked.

"_I'm going to fight until you break free!_" I think as I draw my card "I sacrifice Mad Lobster to Summon Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness!"

The giant orca appears on the field (ATK: 2100).

"Destroy that Luster Dragon!"

My monster dives into the water and resurfaces right under Luster Dragon, eating it in the process.

**LP Richard 900**

**LP Rebecca 400**

"You can't reduce my Life Points to 0 with such a weak attack!" she says smirking.

"_Just as I thought: an attack like that cannot wake you up_" I think "_There are only 10 minutes left! What do I do?_"

"It's my turn" she says drawing her card. I see her scanning her hand.

"Rebecca" I say "Did you forget what we've done in the past week? Did you forget our first date?"

She ignores me and takes the card she drew along with the last card on her left. "I place two face-down cards and end my turn"

"_I have no choice. Looks like I have to fight back!_" I think as I draw my card, which is Spell of Pain "I place this card face-down and I use Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness to attack you directly!"

She smirks as my monster attacks. "You fell for it!I activate my Magic Card Scapegoat! This card Summons four Sheep Tokens to my field to protect my Life Points!"

"I won't let you!" I exclaim "I activate my face-down card Spell Shield Type-8! By discarding 1 card from my hand I negate the activation of your Magic Card and destroy it!"

A weird looking device appears on my field. It shoots a beam and destroys Scapegoat.

"Damn!" she curses "I activate my Trap Card Gravity Bind!"

Suddenly my monster stops as an invisible barrier blocks it.

"With this in play, only Level 3 or lower monsters can attack" she explains.

"_With it we're in a stalemate_" I think "_I need to reduce both our Life Points down to 0 at the same time. It's the only way to escape_"

All of a sudden, I hear a car coming. I turn and see that Tristan, Mai and two guys (one male and one female) I never met are here. Mokuba goes to them to explain the situation.

"_We only have 4 minutes left!_" I think "_If we continue like this we'll both lose!_"

"It's my turn now!" she says drawing her card.

All of a sudden she starts groaning in pain. "Ri… chard…" she says weakily with her own voice.

She then groans again and shouts in the sky. "SHUT UP! I'M NOT KILLING THE GUY I LOVE!"

"Rebecca…" I simply say, tears starting to drop "_We're almost out of time! I have to act!_"

I then get up and shout: "Marik! I know you're watching us! Let me tell you this: the real loser of this Duel is neither me or Rebecca… it's you! You can manipulate your mind with your hocus pocus magic crap, but Rebecca will not give in! We've only got one minute left! In this minute, I'll bring Rebecca back!"

"Ri… chard…" she simply says as she starts crying as well.

"Maybe we'll both sink into the ocean, but you'll remember this loss for your whole life, Marik!" I continue "Come at me now!"

I see Rebecca holding up the card she drew. At the same time though I see she's trying to resist. All of a sudden then, she screams and a Wedjat eye appears on her forehead. "TAKE THIS!" she yells "METEOR OF DESTRUCTION!"

As she activates the card a giant black hole appears above us, a huge meteor coming out of it.

Rebecca then opens her eyes. "I LOVE YOU TOO, RICHARD!"

As said that, the Wedjat eye on her forehead disappears.

"Richard!" she says as she looks at me. She's back again!

"_I did it!_" I think "Marik, my face-down card is Spell of Pain! A card that allows me to bounce any kind of damage I would take to my opponent! But I won't use it, because I will never kill the girl I love and that I know that loves me back!"

I then face Rebecca again. "I guess this is over, Rebecca"

"Over?" she asks.

"You broke free of Marik's spell and you're back again. We won"

Finally Meteor of Destruction hits me as Rebecca shouts my name between tears.

**LP Richard 0**

**LP Rebecca 400**

As the smoke fades, I lay on the ground, fainted. The last words I hear are Rebecca's, asking Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness attacking her because of Meteor of Destruction's other effect.

**LP Richard 0**

**LP Rebecca 0**

* * *

When I open my eyes, I'm all wet and Rebecca is right in front of me. "What… just happened?" I ask.

"When both our Life Points hit 0, I managed to unlock my handcuff and then the anchor went down" Rebecca explains, still in tears "You fell down with it and I dived into the water and saved you"

I smile. "Thank you, Rebecca"

She hushes me. "Don't say anything"

Our faces slowly come closer and we finally kiss, the last lights of the sun giving us the right atmosphere.

* * *

We're now in front of Rebecca's hotel and the moon is the only thing that enlightens us.

"Listen, I want you to go back to America" I say to her "Right now, it's too dangerous here and I don't want Marik to do anything funny with you again"

"But if I go back, when will I be able to see you again?" she asks worried.

I caress her hair. "As soon as this tournament is over, I will come. I promise"

She smiles at me. "I'll be waiting for you"

We share a quick kiss then she enters the hotel.

* * *

**And cut! I just love writing fluffy stuff, but I don't think I'm very good at it. Anyway, this chapter ends and Richard still needs to gather 2 Locator Cards in order to go to the finals. Will he be able to do it in time? You'll find out next chapter. Until then, hasta la vista!**


	10. Frighty night

**The following takes place during **_**Shadow of a Duel**_**.**

* * *

It's night. I'm walking through the streets searching for Duelists. I still need two Locator Cards or I won't be qualified for the finals. I need to hurry up.

"Hey, I heard there're already four people who collected all Locator Cards!"

"I heard they were six!"

I stop walking as I realize something by listening those people talking. "_There're only eight spots total for the finalists_" I think "_I have no time to screw around_"

I approach the three guys and ask: "Hey, do you know where I can find someone to Duel?"

"I heard there're some Duelists wandering around the cemetery" one of them answers.

"The cemetery, huh?"

* * *

As I enter the place, I look around. "And I'm supposed to find a Duelist here?"

All of a sudden, a screaming guy runs towards me as he yells: "SAVE YOURSELF!"

He then passes me and loses himself into Domino City.

I look in front of me and smirk. "Guess I am"

I continue walking as a swarm of crows flying in the sky announce my arrival.

After a few minutes a fog manifests as I see three people coming slowly towards me moaning like zombies; they appear to be wearing masks.

"What is the meaning of this?" I ask, more embarassed than frightened.

The three guys stop. One of them tries to tackle me, but I dodge him and I make him trip to the ground. I then remove his mask. "If you three are actually Duelists, then prove your might by fighting, not frigthening"

"What now?" one of them says "We only need one Locator Card"

"Oh, is that so?" I ask "Well, good for you. I still need two. How about we settle this with a Duel?"

"Wait a minute!" the shorter one says "I know you! You're Richard Tsunami! The Underground King!"

"This will be interesting" the other comments removing his mask.

"You're right! I'm challenging him to a Duel!" the shorter one replies removing his own mask and taking a Duel Disk "My name is Bonz. I will do my best to defeat you!"

"_It won't take long to take this guy out_" I think "_But I need to be smart._ How about I make things a little bit more interesting?"

They look at me with curious faces.

"If I manage to beat you without losing any Life Points, I will get two Locator Cards instead of one"

"This is ridiculous!" the muscled one answers.

"Don't you know? The amount of finalists has been cut in half"

"What?"

"We don't have much time. Whatever happens, you won't make it in time. The winner of this Duel will get to the finals"

"I got it" Bonz says "I'll show you the power of my Zombie Deck!"

"LET'S DUEL!"

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Bonz 4000**

"I'm going first!" I declare drawing a card and placing it on the Duel Disk "I Summon Torpedo Fish!"

The mechanical fish appears on my field rising from the ground (DEF: 1000).

"I also place one card face-down!" I continue placing the first card on my right into the Duel Disk "With it I end my turn!"

"I'm going to scare you!" Bonz says drawing a card "I play The Snake Hair!"

A green skinned gorgon appears on the field (ATK: 1500).

"Whoever looks at her will be turned into stone!" he declares "Go with Stone Blizzard!"

From the gorgon's eyes two beams come out and hit Torpedo Fish, turning into stone and then destroying it.

"With this you're out of monsters" Bonz states.

"The Duel hasn't even started" I reply drawing a card "I open my face-down card Water of Life!"

A giant golden chalice appears on the field, water coming out of it and wetting the ground.

"Water of Life allows me to bring back a monster from the Graveyard in Attack Mode" I explain "Thus I return Torpedo Fish"

From the wet area created by the water, Torpedo Fish comes out (ATK: 1000).

"Even though you revived it, your monster's too short on attack points" the tallest one points out.

I simply hold up the second card from my right. "I will now sacrifice Torpedo Fish to Summon a stronger monster. Meet Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness!"

Behind Torpedo Fish a giant orca appears, the little monster attaching itself to its chest (ATK: 2100).

"What?! 2100 attack points?!" Bonz cries.

"Take this!" I exclaim "Deepsea Takedown!"

Orca rushes towards The Snake Hair and hits it with its tail, destroying it.

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Bonz 3400**

"I thought you were better than this" I mock him.

"I'll show you!" he answers drawing a card and placing it on the Duel Disk "Come out, Dragon Zombie!"

A purple decaying dragon appears (ATK: 1600).

"I also use Premature Burial!" Bonz continues "This card allows me to pay 800 Life Points to bring back a monster from the Graveyard.

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Bonz 2600**

As The Snake Hair comes back, he takes the second card from his left and slides it into his Duel Disk. "Next I use Polymerization to fuse both my monsters and Summon my strongest creature! Great Mammoth of Goldfine!"

A giant golden skeletan mammoth with just one eyehole appears on the field (ATK: 2200).

"Since I cannot attack with a Fusion Monster the turn it's Summoned, I end here" he declares "How's that?"

I draw my card silently. "I use the Magic Card Furious Wave" I declare "This card increases the attack and defense points of a WATER monster on the field by 1000 points"

Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness grows in size as its attack power increases to 3100.

"3100 attack points?!" Bonz cries.

"Take this! Furious Deepsea Takedown!"

Once again Orca uses its mighty tail and destroys Bonz's monster, who can only mutter his fallen beast's name.

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Bonz 1700**

My opponent silently draws his card and slides into the Duel Disk. "I activate Nightmare Steelcage!"

All of a sudden a giant spiked cage appears, surrounding me and my monster.

"This will block your monsters for three whole turns" he explains.

"Then it's back to me"

As I draw my card I grunt.

"What's that? Got a bad draw?" the tallest one mocks me.

"I wanted to make the duel as long as possible in order to entertain myself, but it looks like this will be over" I reply.

"What are you talking about?!" Bonz asks "As long as Nightmare Steelcage is on the field, you cannot attack!"

"This kind of trick doesn't work against my WATER Deck" I answer sliding the drawn card into the Duel Disk "I activate De-Spell! This card cancels any magic effect on the field"

In a matter of seconds Nightmare Steelcage is vanished, leaving my opponent surprised.

"Orca, hit him!"

This time Orca's target is Bonz, who lies on the ground defeated.

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Bonz 0**

"What a pity" I comment "Now you owe me two Locator Cards"

They start handing me the cards, but unfortunately a black fog start sorrounding them as one of the two Locator Card falls; I grab it and jump aside. The fog captures the three guys, who disappear screaming.

"What the hell was that?" I ask.

"That was my doing" a British male voice answers.

I turn and see a tall boy with white hair carrying a Duel Disk and holding Bonz's remaining Locator Cards along with another one: it's Bakura!

"I haven't seen you since Duelist Kingdom" he says. His voice seems… deeper.

"What happened to Bonz and the other two?" I ask.

"Let's just say they're in a better place"

Better place? Wait, did he just do what I think he did? "Did you… just send them to the Shadow Realm?"

He chuckles. "Yup"

"How are you able to do that?"

"It's a little secret of mine. Anyway, down to business. I need to access at the finals and with the Locator Cards I got from those fools I only need one more"

"So you targeted me, huh?"

"Very observant"

"Well, let's just not waiste time then" I reply activating my Duel Disk.

"LET'S DUEL!"

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Bakura 4000**

"Show me your Dueling skills, Bakura!" I say.

"I'll do more than that!" he replies drawing his card and placing it on the Duel Disk "I call out this guy!"

Suddenly on Bakura's field a portrait appears, a monster coming out of it: it's The Portrait's Secret (ATK: 1200).

"I end my turn" he concludes.

"_He played a monster in Attack Mode with only 1200 attack points. Is he trying to lure me?_" I think "For my turn I Summon Amphibious Bugroth MK-3!"

A red scuba diver-like robot appears on my field (ATK: 1500).

"Take down The Portrait's Secret!"

My monster rushes towards the possessed painting and delivers a punch at it, causing its destruction.

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Bakura 3700**

"I'll end my turn by placing one card face-down" I declare.

"Then it's my turn!" he answers "I Summon The Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams in Attack Mode!"

On Bakura's field a giant bed appears, a snoring men sleeping in it. From the man's mouth a weird spirit carrying a sword and a shield comes out moaning (ATK: 1300). That is gross!

"In Attack Mode again?" I ask "_He doesn't have any Magic or Trap Card face-down. I don't get his strategy_"

I silently draw my card and place it on the Duel Disk. "I use this! Mermaid Knight!"

A pink haired mermaid armed with a sword and a shield appears (ATK: 1500).

"Pulverize that monster with Mermaid Slash!"

Mermaid Knight rushes towards The Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams and slashes it with its sword.

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Bakura 3500**

"Next I attack you directly with Amphibious Bugroth MK-3!"

This time the punch hits Bakura, as he has no monsters guarding him.

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Bakura 2000**

He silently draws his card; he then places it on his far right and selects the card near it. "I Summon this! Headless Knight!"

Nothing happens. I stand still for a second then I hear it: metal footsteps. A purple fog sorrounds the field as a knight in a gold and grey armor without its head appears on Bakura's field (ATK: 1450).

"It's your turn!" he concludes.

"_Again? What are you planning?_" I think as I draw my card "Mermaid Knight, take it down!"

Both our monsters swordfight for a couple of seconds until mine delivers the finishing blow.

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Bakura 1950**

"Then I attack directly!"

Bakura screams as Bugroth hits him again.

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Bakura 450**

We both stand still. "_In these three turns, he simply lost his monsters without even counterattacking_" I think "I end my turn"

All of a sudden the wind increases as Bakura starts laughing hysterically. "You've fallen right into my trap!"

"Say what?!"

In response he draws his card. "Hidden in my Occult Deck lies one of the most terrifiying cards in existence!" he explains "But there's a special condition to Summon it: I need to sacrifice three souls from my Graveyard"

As he says so, he holds up the rightmost card in his hand. "Now come out, Dark Necrofear!"

A purple ectoplasma appears and rushes over the field for a while before turning into a blue demonic woman holding a creepy laughing baby doll (ATK: 2200).

* * *

**Fanmade cards:**

**Furious Wave  
Quick-Play Spell Card  
Effect: Select 1 WATER monster on the field. It gains 1000 ATK and DEF.**

**Whoa! Bakura Summoned Dark Necrofear! Didn't expect this one, huh (the fact that Richard is facing Bakura, not Dark Necrofear being Summoned). Will Richard manage to win the Duel and get into the finals? This question will be answered… next chapter, though. Until then, hasta la vista!**


	11. Sinister Shadow Game

**The following takes place during **_**Shadow of a Duel**_**.**

* * *

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Bakura 450**

I stand still, a little bit frightened, as Bakura's ace monster looks at me with a serious face.

"I'm going to show you... the true terror of my Occult Deck!" my opponent says smirking.

"_A monster that requires three creatures to be destroyed in order to be Summoned..._" I think "_This thing must have a very good ability..._"

"Continuing my turn I place one card face-down!" Bakura declares "I'm done"

"_Why didn't he attack?_" I think "_He could have destroyed my monsters easily. Is it because of my face-down card? Or there is something else?_"

I then draw my card and look at it. "_I still have all my Life Points. Bakura only has 450. With this card I can finish him_" I think as I place the card on the Duel Disk "I sacrifice Amphibious Bugroth MK-3 to Summon Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness!"

The giant orca appears on the field alongside my Mermaid Knight (AT: 2100).

"That excuse of a whale doesn't stand a chance against Dark Necrofear!" Bakura says.

"We'll see about that" I answer "You thought my face-down card was a Trap Card! It's actually an Equip Magic Card! Steel Shell!"

"What?!"

"This card raises the attack power of my Orca by 400 points!"

A giant blue shell appears on Orca's body, its attack points increasing to 2500.

"Now it has 300 more attack points than Dark Necrofear!" I point out "Now go! Attack with Deepsea Takedown!"

Orca rushes towards Dark Necrofear (a little bit slowly than usual because of the heavy shell) and hits it with its tail.

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Bakura 150**

Surprisingly Bakura seems... happy. "Defeating Dark Necrofear... I thank you for that!" he says "Now that Dark Necrofear has been sent to the Graveyard I can activate the Field Magic Dark Sanctuary!"

Suddenly the field is sorrounded by a red clouded sky, a creepy sanctuary behind my opponent. Then, from the crimson sky, a dozen of eyes and mouths (a few with even eyes inside them!) appear.

"You just triggered the most terrifying switch of my Occult Combo!" Bakura declares laughing "Now the Shadow Game can finally begin!"

Shadow Game?! Damn, now my life is at stake! Still, Bakura triggered the Shadow Game in a very critical situation for him: he has no monsters on his field and I still have one to attack with. Then why he did it? I don't know, but I might give it a shot! "I attack directly with Mermaid Knight!"

As my monster starts rushing towards my opponent, a creepy spirit comes out of her body and hits me.

"What the-" I say "Something came out of Mermaid Knight and attacked me!"

"You must been really shocked!" Bakura comments "She's been possessed by the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary"

"So it's inside Mermaid Knight"

"The Ghost is more than happy to attack when you order it to, although you're the one who will be taking damage. Furthermore, the player who is attacked loses Life Points equal to half of the possessed monster's attack points"

"Say what?!"

**LP Richard 3250**

**LP Bakura 150**

"And the points you lost will be added to my Life Points!" he finishes laughing.

**LP Richard 3250**

**LP Bakura 900**

"You absorb my Life Points?!" I cry.

"This is too early to be surprised" he replies "My Occult Combo is only on its first phases"

He then draws his card and places it in the middle of his hand. "I activate the Continuous Trap Destiny Board!"

All of a sudden behind Bakura a giant ouija board appears, Dark Necrofear's hand holding the planchette.

"The Destiny Board is used to comunicate with spirits" Bakura explains "That planchette will point the letters on the board and spell out the spirit's wishes. Look. In this turn the spirits will give you a letter"

The planchette starts moving until it stops on a letter: "F".

"Starting next turn, when the other four letters will appear, even if you will still have Life Points remaining, you'll be eliminated right on the spot!" he finishes laughing maniacally.

"But this means I only have four turns left!" I state "He let me beat Dark Necrofear in order to unleash this combo?!"

"The countdown to your doom has begun" Bakura continues taking the card on his far right "But there's much more to the Occult Combo! Like the Continuous Magic Card The Dark Door! Now you can only attack with one monster per turn!"

He then holds up another card smirking. "Next I place this face-down and Sumon Earthbound Spirit!"

A human figure attached to the ground appears on the field (ATK: 500).

"But since Dark Sanctuary needs a sacrifice each turn, I'll sacrifice it!"

The weird monster vanishes as I draw my card, which is Torpedo Fish. "_Because of The Dark Door I can only attack once per turn_" I think "_Mermaid Knight is possessed by the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary, so I cannot attack with her. But Bakura doesn't have any monster protecting him. If I attack directly with Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness, since Bakura only has 900 Life Points remaining, he'll be finished! But there's a good chance he realized it. I'm 100% sure that is face-down card is a Trap Card!_"

"What's wrong?!" he mocks me chuckling.

"_But I cannot waiste this turn! Even if that face-down card is a Trap Card, I need to try!_ I play Torpedo Fish in Defense Mode!"

The mechanical fish appears on the field (DEF: 1000).

"Next I attack directly with Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness!"

But, as Orca tries to move, the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary comes out of it and attacks me.

**LP Richard 2000**

**LP Bakura 2150**

"This time it got Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness?!" I state.

"I forgot to tell you" Bakura says "The Ghost of Dark Sanctuary changes host every turn. If you don't choose your attacking monster carefully, your own army will tear your body to ribbons!"

"I... end my turn" I declare getting up.

"I activate the effect of Destiny Board!"

The planchette moves again and stops on another letter: "I".

"Every time you end your turn, Destiny Board will spell another letter!" Bakura explains.

Now it spells "FI". Still I saw Bakura placing a card on the Duel Disk. Are the letters some sort of Magic Cards? If that's the case... "Bakura... before you gather all the letters, you still require three cards" I say smirking "But you have only one open slot on your Duel Disk"

"Thanks for the warning, but don't think you found a weakness in my strategy" he answers chuckling "Let me explain. Dark Sanctuary has another ability: I can now play Magic and Trap Cards in the Monster Card Zones!"

"What?! But that means you can play up to ten Magic and Trap Cards!"

"My Occult Combo is perfect! This will end in three turns!" he states drawing his card and placing it on the Duel Disk "I Summon Sangan!"

A three eyed furball-like monster appears (ATK: 1000).

"Then I sacrifice it for the Dark Sanctuary!" he continues as Sangan disappers "Also, due to Sangan's special ability, I draw one card from my Deck!"

"_Which one of my monster is possessed?_" I think as I draw my card "_I doubt is Torpedo Fish: it's not the type of monster to use in offensive. Is it Mermaid Knight or Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness? Due to The Dark Door I can only attack once! In my hand there is nothing that can help me_"

I then glance at my drawn card, which is Aqua Madoor. "_I'll use this as a defense, since it has too low attack points for it to be possessed._ I Summon Aqua Madoor in Defense Mode!"

The masked mage appears on my field (DEF: 2000).

"There is no point in defending!" Bakura mocks me.

"_I hate to admit it, but he's right! I only have a few turns left. I need to pick one of my monsters to attack. If I hesitate now, I can't beat him! It's a gamble!_"

I then glance at Mermaid Knight. "Mermaid Knight, attack directly!"

Mermaid Knight rushes without problems. I got it!

"I activate a Trap Card! Dark Spirit of the Silent!" Bakura declares "It possesses a monster in Attack Mode, silences it and forces another monster to take its place, despite of the owner's orders!"

A spirit similar to the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary appears. It rushes towards Mermaid Knight and possesses her, stopping her dead on her tracks.

"Mermaid Knight cannot move!" I state "The attack will be done by Orca Mga-Fortress of Darkness!"

"But the orca is possessed by the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary!" Bakura says.

The spirit comes out and attacks me a third time.

**LP Richard 750**

**LP Bakura 3400**

"There is no flaw in my Occult Combo!" my opponent declares.

"_There must be something I can do_" I think as I look at my monsters "_My problem is the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary that keeps possessing my monsters. Unless I can get rid of it, I can't stop his Occult Combo. How do I fight something I can't see?_"

"What's wrong?! You can still give up if you want" Bakura trashtalks.

"_The Ghost of Dark Sanctuary can only possess one monster. Only one..._" I think as I scan my hand, which contains Monster Recovery, Beckon to Darkness, Silent Doom, Double Attack and Mirror's Curse "_Wait a minute! There's still a way!_ I place two cards face-down and end my turn!"

"So you still continue with your futile strategies" my opponent comments.

"Yes! Because I believe that next turn will bring new possibilities!"

"Don't make me laugh! There're no new possibilities!"

"It's your turn!"

"Then Destiny Board's effect activates!"

The third letter is "N". Now it spells "FIN".

Bakura then draws his card and places it on the Duel Disk. "I Summon Souls of the Forgotten!"

A group of souls appear on the field (ATK: 900).

"I sacrifice you to maintain the Dark Sanctuary!"

The souls disappear instantly.

"In just two turns, I'll see the distorted look of fear in your face..." he says.

I smirk. "You sure have gotten full of yourself. But don't you think you'd be safer keeping that superego of yours in check?"

"What did you say?"

"In this turn I'll crush your Occult Combo!" I declare as I draw my card.

"Just leave the tough-guy act up already" he says "You're the one getting full of yourself"

"Each new card gives new possibilites" I answer as I place the drawn card in the middle of my hand "And this is one of them! Magic Card Monster Recovery!"

As my face-down card activates, all the monsters on my field disappear.

"Every monster on my field along with the cards in my hand are returned into my Deck!" I explain as I do said action "Afterwards I draw 5 new cards!"

As I scan my new hand I select the one on the far right. "I now Summon Unshaven Angler!"

A blue angler with a long beard appears on my field (ATK: 1500).

"You said it yourself!" I say smirking "The Ghost of Dark Sanctuary can only possess one monster. Now I play my other face-down card! Beckon to Darkness! This card destroys one monster on the field! By using this on Unshaven Angler I destroy the Ghost as well!"

A demonic red hand appears from under Unshaven Angler and grabs the latter, forcing it to come down in the giant crevasse said hand created. The Ghost has been defeated!

"Now I place one card face-down!" I declare "My turn is over!"

Bakura clenches his fist. "I activate the effect of Destiny Board!"

The fourth letter appears: "A".

* * *

**So Richard managed to destroy the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary. But he still has a major problem: as soon as he ends his next turn, Destiny Board will spell the final letter. Will he be able to turn the tables in just one turn? You'll find out in the next chapter. Until then, hasta la vista!**


	12. Battle City Finals, here I come!

**The following takes place during **_**Shadow of a Duel**_**, **_**Lights, Camera, Duel**_**, **_**Let the Finals Begin!**_** and the first part of **_**The Dark Spirit Revealed**_**.**

* * *

**LP Richard 750**

**LP Bakura 3400**

I'm not happy that it's Bakura's turn. Sure, I destroyed the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary, but he still has Destiny Board on the field, spelling "FINA". Only one more letter left...

He draws his card silently and draws maniacally at the sight of it. "That's far enough!" he declares "So long as I have this card you can't stop me!"

"Say what?!"

He chuckles in response. "Too bad for you! I praise you for pushing me this far into a corner, but your defiance will end now! Prepare yourself as I activate Premature Burial!"

All of a sudden a giant crevasse opens as Dark Necrofear comes out of it (ATK: 2200). As the monster comes to the field, Dark Sanctuary suddenly disappears.

**LP Richard 750**

**LP Bakura 2600**

"It doesn't matter if Dark Sanctuary isn't on the field anymore, because I will end you now!" my opponent declares.

"Not if I step in!" I answer "Activate Trap Card! Torrential Tribute!"

A giant wave appears from the card, instantly destroying Dark Necrofear, but bringing Dark Sanctuary back.

Bakura laughs. "Now that Dark Necrofear is once again buried on my side, the effect of Dark Sanctuary returns... along with the Ghost!"

Tsk! After the effort I put in destroying it!

"There's no way to stop my Occult Combo!" my opponent declares laughing "Next turn the final letter of the Destiny Board will appear and you'll lose!"

I groan.

"Now I Summon Jowgen the Spiritualist and sacrifice it to mantain Dark Sanctuary!"

A priest with a yellow and purple vest appears on the field (ATK: 200). After a few seconds though, it disappears because of Dark Sanctuary.

"I only have one turn" I state while looking at my empty field "Thanks to The Dark Door I can only attack with one monster and the first monster I'll Summon will be possessed by the Ghost of Dark Sanctuary"

I look at my hand, which contains Water of Life, Magical Barrier and Giga Gagagigo. "_I don't have any card that can turn the tables_" I think.

"You still don't get it?!" Bakura mocks me "Your chance of victory is literally 0%!"

"_If I end my turn, I'll lose... If I want to win I have to decrease his Life Points to 0 this turn_" I think while looking at my Deck "_I only have one card in my Deck that can help me right now. Everything depends on this card!_"

I place my hand on top of my Deck. "I bet everything I have as a Duelist on this draw!" I declare drawing.

As I look at it, I place it aside and announce: "I activate the Magic Card Water of Life! This card brings back a monster from the Graveyard in Attack Mode! Unshaven Angler, come back!"

The weird fish appears again (ATK: 1500).

After said action I hold up the card I drew. "I now sacrifice it with its effect treating as two monsters!" I cry "I call forth Levia-Dragon – Daedalus!"

My ace monster appears on the field (ATK: 2600).

"Daedalus?!" Bakura parrots.

"Brace yourself, Bakura!"

"Not yet!" he declares "The Ghost of Dark Sanctuary still wanders the field! Now, possess Daedalus!"

However, a giant bubble-like barrier sorrounds Daedalus, preventing the spirit from possessing it.

"What?!" my opponent protests "The Ghost was dispelled?!"

I smirk. "I activated the Quick-Play Magic Card Magical Barrier, a card that makes Daedalus unaffected by card effects until the end of the turn. I win! Water Blast Cannon!"

My ace monster fires its attack and hits Bakura, who falls on the floor.

**LP Richard 750**

**LP Bakura 0**

As he gets up I see his body slowly disappearing. "I suppose I'll admit defeat this time..." he says "But remember this! I will be resurrected as I was born from the darkness!"

With a last laugh he disappears, leaving only the weird artifact that was on his neck and the Duel Disk on the floor.

I pick the artifact and a Locator Card. "I'll take this to Yugi once I get to the Finals"

After said so, I take my six Locator Cards and place them on each Zone in the Duel Disk. The holograms show me the map of Domino City along with a spot marked with a point: that's the place!

* * *

As I arrive, I realize the place is a giant colosseum, Seto being the first arrived along with Mokuba and their chopper.

"Richard..." he says as he notices me "It seems like you made it"

"Nice to see you too, Seto" I answer.

He looks at me with a smirk. "You do know that, even though I respect you as a Duelist, I won't go easy on you if we face each other, right?"

I make a smirk of my own. "Of course! And I'll do the same!"

All of a sudden I hear footsteps: Yugi, Joey, Mai, Tristan, Tea and the other two guys from before arrived.

"Welcome" Isono says "You have discovered the location of the Finals"

Another one of Seto's men takes four cards and handles each one to me, Yugi, Joey and Mai. "We recognize you as partecipants in the Finals. Please accept these I.D. cards"

"Where are the others?" Joey asks as we get the I.D.s.

"Currently only you and Seto have arrived"

So that means that only three remain... and one of them is probably Marik!

All of a sudden another Duelist enters the colosseum: is a dark skinned boy with long white hair and blue eyes dressed in a weird egyptian-like style. Is he Marik?

"Dat's Namu!" Joey declares "How're ya doin'?"

"Very well!" the boy named Namu answers.

"_So that's not Marik..._" I think as Tea introduces Namu to Yugi.

"Look! That's the seventh Duelist!" Namu suddenly says.

In fact, a tall man whose face and body is covered by a cloak is approaching. I have seen that cloak before! Either he's a Rare Hunter or...

"Are you Marik?" Seto asks.

"I am" he simply answers.

I found him! I'll make him pay for what he did to Rebecca!

"So we meet once more..." Marik declares looking towards me.

"As much as I want to kick your butt right here right now, I think I'll save this pleasure during the Finals" I answer keeping my cool.

"Marik, I'm free to disqualify you from this Tournament" Seto states "But instead of doing that, I'll beat you to a bloody pulp and take your God Card!"

He ignores him and takes his I.D. card.

"I have an announcement to make, so please listen" Isono declares "All of you have won the Preliminaries and assembled here at the final location. However, this will not be the location of the Finals"

All of us besides Seto, Marik and Mokuba look at him with a puzzled look.

"The real stage should appear before us momentarily..."

As said that, a giant blue and white blimp flies over our heads.

"The Finals will take place 3,000 feet in the air!" Mokuba explains excitedly.

The blimp finally lands and a door opens.

"Come on board" Isono says "We will take off once the eighth Duelist arrives"

I hear Mai and the others comment as I silently enter the blimp first.

After a few seconds the blimp takes off. This means the eighth Duelist arrived.

"Wow! You can see all of Domino City from up here!" Tea comments.

"You're amazing to be able to Duel all the way up in the sky, big brother!" the other girl follows up, referring to Joey. I guess she's Serenity, Joey's younger sister.

"I guess strong Duelists can even fly thru da sky!" Joey answers

"It doesn't take much to excite some people, you deadbeat" Seto comments, making me chuckle.

"D-deadbeat?!"

"I'm sure you'll freeze up when you face the more challenging Duels that lie ahead. You'd better enjoy the feeling of being a tourist while you can"

"I disagree" I step in "If he arrived here it's not just by dumb luck, even though we're talking about Joey"

"Yeah! Wait, what?!" Joey says before realizing what I said.

Seto simply walks towards Yugi. "Let me give you one piece of advice" he whispers to him "During the Battle City Preliminaries you left your God Card out of your Deck, for whatever foolish reason. I noticed it while working with you in that Tag Duel against the Rare Hunters"

His voice then turns louder. "Listen! I will not accept that during our fight! I'm sure you know that in this Tournament we're about to step foot into the domain of the gods! The winner will be determined with the three God Cards!"

Wait, does this mean Seto has another God Card?! And just before he said to Marik that... oh God! This means Marik has the third one!

"A fight that will go down in legend is about to begin!" Seto finally declares "I will beat you and Marik, obtain the three God Cards and become the world's strongest Duelist!"

After saying said words, he steps out. We then hear Isono's voice from a speaker. "We arranged eight rooms for the finalists. You may access them with your I.D. cards. The Finals will begin in one hour. The match-ups will be announced at that time"

After he says so, I reach my room and enter: it's very big but contains only a huge table, a bed and a mini fridge.

"_I'll take this time to arrange my Deck a bit_" I think "_ I need to prepare myself for Marik and his God Card!_"

My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of my mini fridge being opened. I turn around and see Yugi approaching me with two Diet Cokes (Author's note: it's Yami Yugi). He throws one of them at me as I catch it and open it. "How's it going?" he asks.

"Better, now that I know that Rebecca's safe" I answer as I drink a bit of my Coke.

"Good for you. Best of luck"

"You too"

I then realize something. "Wait! I have something for you!"

He looks at me with a puzzled look as I handle him the artifact Bakura was holding. "How did you get it?" he asks me.

"I found Bakura in the graveyard and he challenged me to a Shadow Game"

He doesn't reply, so I continue. "I simply won the Duel and the only thing left of him was that"

He looks at me with a smile. "Thank you very much"

"Don't even mention it"

Yugi then leaves, so I sit with my Diet Coke and take my Deck. I shift through the cards and then take out one of them: Levia-Dragon – Daedalus. "_I finally made it to the Finals_" I think "_I will beat Marik and make him pay for what he did. And why not, I'll also take his Egyptian God Card_"

* * *

After a while, I finish modifying my Deck and I go into the main room, where I see everyone either eating or chatting. As I notice that everyone's having a good time, I forget all the worries and start picking up some food. As I do, a person hits me.

"Oh, Richard. Sorry 'bout dat"

I'd recognize that Brooklyn accent from a mile. "Don't worry, Joey, it's all right" I answer turning towards him.

"Yeah, it's dat I'm a bit nervous" he admits "By da way, how did ya manage ta defeat two people in dese few hours?"

"Simple! I went to the graveyard and beat both Bonz and Bakura, one after the other"

"What?! Both of 'em?!" he cries.

"Yup. It was pretty easy"

"'Pretty easy'?!"

I nod. "Let's do our best!"

He simply nods back and walks away, probably surprised for my quick victories.

All of a sudden the lights turn off and a spotlight focuses on a little stage, Isono and a weird machine standing on it.

"We will now draw lots to determine the first round match-ups" Isono declares "Each and every match-up will be decided in this format, starting with the first match"

He then points to the weird machine, which I just noticed it's shaped like a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. "The match-ups will be decided using this Ultimate Bingo Machine. And when the winner of each Duel is determinted, the next draw will be held" he explains "In other words, you won't know who your opponent is until mere moments before the match"

This sounds interesting...

"This Bingo Machine was equipped with each of the numbers we assigned the partecipants, and it will randomly choose two of them"

My number is "2"...

"If all are ready, we shall begin the lottery for the Tournament's first match-up" Isono finally says.

The numbers inside the Bingo Machine start to spin until one of them enters into the mouth-shaped tunnel and comes out on the left side.

"The first person is Duelist Number 6: Joey Wheeler!"

Joey grins. "So I'm first, huh?"

"And the other is Duelist Number 3: Yugi Muto!"

"_So it will be Yugi VS Joey_" I think "_Interesting. But I don't think I'll watch the match. I might as well go back in my room and get some sleep since I need to recover for __my__ match, whenever it will occur..._"

* * *

**Fanmade cards:**

**Magical Barrier  
Quick-Play Spell Card  
Effect: Activate by targeting 1 monster you control; that target is unaffected by other card effects this turn.**

**OK, I have a couple of things to say: first of all I'm terribly sorry for not updating lately, but I'm stuck with my high school exams at the moment, so I need to study; second of all, I'm a little lazy, so I decided to send Richard to his room so that I don't need to do a Yugi VS Joey Duel (even though all of you know who's going to win, right?). I'll try to upload the next chapter as soon as possible. Until then, hasta la vista!**


	13. Stepping into a forbidden field

**The following takes place during **_**Awakening of Evil**_**.**

* * *

Man, that was some good sleep! I managed to have a good thirty-minutes nap that was so recharging!

Anyway, between Yugi and Joey the one who won was (of course) Yugi and, at the moment, we're in the main room again as Isono is holding the lottery for the second round.

"The first Duelist in the second match will be…" he declares "Number 2: Richard Tsunami!"

"Good" I smirk "Let's see who will be my opponent"

"The opponent is…" Isono continues "Number 7: Marik Ishtar!"

Marik! The one that brainwashed Rebecca and forced me to duel her in a Life or Death Duel! "I'm going to beat you with my own two hands!" I declare as I look at him.

He doesn't answer, so we get to the top of the blimp (as I got up everyone explained me the rules as they told me about the Duel between Yugi and Joey) and we stand on the Duel Arena, our Duel Disks ready to activate.

"We will now begin the second round of the Finals!" Isono announces "Richard Tsunami VS Marik Ishtar!"

We both take each other's Deck and start shuffling it while staring at each other.

"_You asked for it!_" I think as I give him back his Deck and he does the same "_I swear I'm going to defeat you!_"

We then silently get into position and activate our Duel Disks. "Here goes!" I declare.

"LET'S DUEL!"

**LP Richard 4000**

**LP Marik 4000**

"I'm going first!" I declare drawing a card "_I'll win for sure and take his God Card!_"

I let the wind blow towards me so that the fresh air wipes my mind from all other thoughts and then I take the card I drew and place it on the Duel Disk. "On my turn I play this! Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness in Attack Mode!"

The sea warrior appears on my field (ATK: 1800).

"Let's see how you deal with him! I end my turn!"

He silently draws his card and places it in the middle of his hand. He then takes the leftmost card. "I activate the Field Magic Temple of the Kings!"

All of a sudden a giant temple appears behind him, a weird sarcophagus on top of it.

"This is a sanctuary for the Pharaoh's treasures! All beings other than the Tomb Guardians must humble themselves before this sacred ground!" he explains "Due to this card's effect you are limited to one face-down card per turn"

"What?!"

He then places two cards face-down. "Powerful traps are set to pass judgment against thieves and robbers" he says "My turn now comes to an end. So, Richard, do you have the courage to step into this sacred ground and face this trap-filled territory?"

"_He's planning to activate his Trap Cards the moment I attack!_" I think as I scan my hand, which contains Card Hexative, Double Attack, Forgotten Temple of the Deep, Water of Life and Cannonball Spear Shellfish "_But I won't attack: instead I'll Summon as many monsters as I can while he waits for me to make a move. And after he'll play every Trap Card he's got in his hand… I'll use Card Hexative to block them and leave my monsters free way to attack!_"

I then draw my card and place it on the Duel Disk. "I Summon Codarus!"

A childish version of Levia-Dragon – Daedalus appears on the field (ATK: 1400).

"I'll end my turn right there!"

"For my turn I'll place two more cards face-down" Marik declares "I end my turn"

"_Just like I planned, he placed all his Trap Cards on the field!_" I think as I draw my card "This turn I'll Summon another monster! Cannonball Spear Shellfish!"

The weird mollusk-like monster appears (ATK: 1000).

"_Yes! The total Attack points of the monsters I control is over 4000!_" I think "Marik, you fell into my trap! I activate Card Hexative!"

From the ground, some chains appear and start wrapping around Marik's Trap Cards. All of a sudden though, the chains disappear.

"Richard, you are the one who fell into a trap" Marik says "You may thought my Trap Cards would have been activated when you'd attack. But I was waiting for you to activate a Magic Card"

"Say what?!"

"Such tactics are child's play to me, the great Marik! This is the Trap Card you deserve! Judgment of Anubis!"

All of a sudden a huge purple fog appears and takes the form of a jackal's face.

"This card activates when the opponent uses a Magic Card" he explains "Every monster on the field is destroyed and the opponent receives half of their Attack points as damage"

"What?!"

The fog manifests some tentacles that stab my monsters.

"The total Attack power of your monsters is 4200, therefore you receive 2100 points of damage as judgment" Marik concludes.

"All my monsters… are gone…" I state as I shield myself from the blow and the fog disappears.

**LP Richard 1900**

**LP Marik 4000**

"Richard, this is only the first of the traps you'll fall into!" Marik says "So then, your turn must yet to end"

I smirk. "I must say I underestimated you. Just make your move!"

He draws his card and places it on the Duel Disk along with the leftmost card in his hand. "In this turn I place two more cards face-down"

"This again?!" I ask a little bit annoyed "Why don't you come at me?!"

"A Trap Deck is a good strategy. You have no right to call me a coward just because you cannot comprehend it"

"Whatever" I say drawing a card "I Summon Amphibious Bugroth MK-3!"

A red scuba diver-like robot appears (ATK: 1500).

"_He has five face-down cards. All of them probably being Trap Cards_" I think "_I need to be careful. _I place this face-down and call it a turn"

"In that case, I will simply end my turn without doing anything"

"_I'm losing my patience!_" I think as I draw a card and place it on the Duel Disk "I Summon Mermaid Knight!"

A mermaid with a shield and a sword appears on the field (ATK: 1500).

"I need to take a risk! Mermaid Knight, use Mermaid Slash and attack him directly!"

Mermaid Knight quickly rushes towards Marik, who declares: "I activate the Trap Card Eye of Ujat!"

All of a sudden a Wedjat eye appears on Mermaid Knight's forehead.

"Due to the effect of this Trap, the monster who sees the Eye of Ujat shall be under my control for one full turn"

"What the-"

"Mermaid Knight! Attack Amphibious Bugroth MK-3!"

"I had a feeling you'd do that!" I declare "I activate the Trap Card Forgotten Temple of the Deep!"

Marik looks in horror as a huge temple surrounds the entire field and creates a giant pool of water under our monsters. Bugroth then dives underwater, just in time before Mermaid Knight can reach it.

"Now Mermaid Knight loses its target!" I explain with a smirk "Plus, you just said you have a Trap Deck, so probably you don't have any Monster Card. This means that if I manage to get rid of your Trap Cards, you can't defend yourself!"

"Are you sure about that?" he asks "You've already fallen deep into my deadly trap"

"Say what?!"

"Just like you pointed out, I have a Trap Deck, which mostly uses Magic and Trap Cards. But what if a Trap Card can takes the place of a Monster Card?"

"Like a… Trap Monster?!"

"Allow me to show you! This is the card that shall deliver onto you the God's punishment! Embodiment of Apophis!"

The Trap Card reveals itself, purple smoke coming out of it.

"This card is a Trap Card that activates when you attack" Marik explains "And its effect Summons the monster servant of the Gods, Embodiment of Apophis! And, since I have three of the same cards, I can Summon three monsters!"

Two more Trap Cards reveal themselves and three snake-like monsters with a shield and a sword appear (ATK: 1600 x3).

"He Summoned three monsters at once?!" I exclaim in amazement.

* * *

**Altered cards:**

**Forgotten Temple of the Deep  
****Continuous Trap Card  
****Effect: This card's name is also treated as "Umi". Once per turn, during either player's turn, you can remove 1 WATER monster you control. During the End Phase of the turn, Special Summon that monster. (Author's note: This card's removing effect is Spell Speed 2)**

**So, now Richard has to fight three Embodiment of Apophises! Will he be able to do it? You'll know in the next chapter! Until then, hasta la vista!**


	14. The best Duel ever

**The following STILL takes place during **_**Awakening of Evil**_**.**

* * *

**LP Richard 1900**

**LP Marik 4000**

I look in horror as Marik Summons his three Embodiment of Apophises at once! At least I can avoid his attacks with my Forgotten Temple of the Deep.

"I end my turn!" I declare "And at the end of the turn, Bugroth surfaces in Defense Mode!"

Bugroth emerges from the water and places itself in front of me (DEF: 1300).

"Do you think that will help you avoid my attacks?" Marik asks.

"Of course" I answer.

"Then it's my turn. Apophis, attack!"

The three serpentine monsters rush against my creatures.

"I activate Forgotten Temple of the Deep's effect!"

"Too naive!" Marik exclaims "I activate the Trap Card Dust Tornado!"

"Say what?!"

A giant tornado appears and my Water Field is sucked inside, leaving my monsters nowhere to hide. Then two Apophises slash my monsters with their swords and the last one hits me directly.

**LP Richard 100**

**LP Marik 4000**

"Damn it!" I curse falling on my knees.

"Richard, with your strategy you cannot defeat me" Marik comments "It's too easy..."

He's too strong! Even without using his dirty tricks! But... but after what he did to Rebecca... I cannot let him defeat me! "I'm not defeated yet!" I cry "I'll do it for Rebecca's sake!"

I see him flinch for a second. "There is nothing more you can do"

"Maybe. But I'll lose fighting rather than giving up!" I declare drawing my card "We're just getting started! I activate Water of Life! This card brings back my Cannonball Spear Shellfish!"

The weird mollusk-like monster appears again.

"Then I'm going to sacrifice it to call out Giga Gagagigo!"

A giant reptilian monster with a silver armor appears on my field (ATK: 2450).

"Impossible!" Marik exclaims "You Summoned a Level 6 monster in a little-to-no time at all!"

"That's right! And I'll use it to attack your Apophis!"

My monster rushes towards one of the Apophises and slashes it with its claws, destroying it.

**LP Richard 100**

**LP Marik 3150**

"Now what are you going to do?" I ask pointing at him.

He silently takes his turn switching his two remaining Apophises to Defense Mode (DEF: 1800).

I smirk. "Now you don't trashtalk anymore, huh?" I say drawing my card and placing it on the Duel Disk "I Summon Warrior of Atlantis!"

A blue humanoid fish-like monster with a wristbow appears on the field (ATK: 1900).

"Now go, my monsters!"

Giga Gagagigo and Warrior of Atlantis rush towards the two remaining Apophises and destroy them.

"That was impressive" Marik says "Despite being almost out of Life Points, you managed to stand up to me"

"I know you don't mean that!" I answer "I won't forget how you brainwashed the girl I love and forced me to battle her! I'll defeat you no matter what!"

He silently draws his card and then follows up by taking the third card from his left. "I activate the Magic Card Swords of Revealing Light!"

All of a sudden, a bunch of swords made of green light appear from above and stuck to the ground in front of me and my monsters. And unfortunately I know that it will be that way for the next three turns.

I silently draw my card. "If I can't attack, I'll just keep Summoning monsters. I sacrifice Warrior of Atlantis to Summon Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness in Defense Mode!"

The giant orca appears on the field (DEF: 1200).

"Then I'll switch Giga Gagagigo to Defense Mode as well and end my turn"

Giga Gagagigo kneels down (DEF: 1500).

Marik then draws his card and looks at it with a terrified look. What did he drew?

"I-I place one card face-down" he says before holding up the card he drew "I then seal one card away within the sarcophagus in the Temple of the Kings!"

The card's hologram appears before entering the sarcophagus.

"Now I end my turn"

"Then back to me!" I declare drawing a card and placing it on the Duel Disk "On this turn I'll use Silent Doom to bring back Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness!"

The sea warrior appears again (DEF: 1500).

"I'll then sacrifice it to call out Amphibian Beast in Defense Mode!"

A green humanoid monster with fins all over its body appears (DEF: 2000).

"Swords of Revealing Light's effect will disappear on my next turn!" I state "But you don't have any monsters on the field. If I attack you with all my monsters, you'll be history!"

"No. You won't touch me with any of those monsters" Marik says "So long as the card I placed in the sarcophagus remains within the Temple of the King's alter, it shall not be harmed by the enemy"

"What?!"

"I was also using Swords of Revealing Light in order to buy time while I prepared for a ritual" he continues "But the time has come! The three cards I've gathered on the field hold the power to Summon the great guardian of the temple, protecting the sacred sealed card!"

"Guardian of the temple?"

"Behold! I activate the Magic Card Cup of Sealed Soul along with my face-down card Seal of Serket! With the Temple of the Kings I can Summon the scorpion deity that will devour your monsters! Show your glorious form before us, Mystical Beast of Serket!"

All of a sudden a giant red scorpion with lots of teeth both in its mouth and on its body along with some egyptian motifs and a Wedjat eye appears on the field roaring (ATK: 2500).

"What the hell is that?!" I cry.

"The Mystical Beast of Serket exists to guard the sacred card sealed in the sarcophagus!" Marik explains.

"This means the cad you sealed-"

"Correct. Is the Egyptian God Card The Winged Dragon of Ra!"

I look at him in horror. "_With only 100 Life Points I cannot survive an attack from that thing!_"

"Since Serket was Summoned using a Ritual Magic Card, it cannot attack this turn, so I end my turn"

"_That was close_" I think placing my hand on top of my Deck "I'm taking a bet!"

I then draw my card: Underworld Sacrifice!

"_This card can't help me!_"

Since I can't do nothing, I simply add the card to my hand and end my turn, causing the Swords of Revealing Light to disappear.

"Here I come, Richard!" Marik declares drawing his own card "I attack you with Mystical Beast of Serket! My target is Giga Gagagigo!"

Serket jumps in front of my monster and literally eats it.

"_Gross!_" I think.

"I know this is quite unpleasant, but that's Serket's special ability"

"Say what?"

All of a sudden, Serket grows in size, its Attack power increasing to 3725.

"Serket takes the enemy inside itself and adds half of its power to its own"

"_3725 Attack points?!_" I think as I silently draw my card and place it on the far right "I can't do anything this turn"

"Then I take my turn by attacking with Serket! The next sacrifice is Amphibian Beast!"

Serket eats Amphibian Beast like it did with Giga Gagagigo and grows in size again, its Attack power now being 4925.

"Richard, give up your hopes of defeating me" Marik says.

I silently draw my card, which is Furious Wave, and place it with the other cards in my hand, which are Double Attack, Underworld Sacrifice and Steel Shell. "I pass this turn"

"Despite this situation, you actually plan to continue?" Marik asks.

"It may be useless to continue fighting, but I'll still do it until my Life Points hit 0!"

He looks at me for a few seconds before commenting: "I respect your spirit"

I look at him without changing my expression while he draws his card. "Serket, attack Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness!"

Marik's monster destroys mine and it absorbs its power, going up to 5975 Attack Points.

"Now it's your turn"

I draw my card silently. "There is nothing I can do. I end my turn. But still... I got a funny feeling"

Marik looks at me with a puzzled look.

"Why didn't I realized before? Was it because of the heat of the battle?" I wonder "Marik brainwashed Rebecca and forced me to Duel her in a Life or Death Duel. I can't forgive the one who set up that Duel!"

"Then go ahead and curse me" my opponent says "But a match is different. That anger is not enough to defeat me"

"That's not what I'm trying to say"

He shuts up again.

"When the Duel started, I really hated your guts! But I lost that hatred now... And I tried to remember how terrible it felt when I was forced to Duel Rebecca... But you didn't use any dirty tricks and fought me fair and square. I may lose to you, but while fighting against you in this Duel, it became one of the best I had! You're the real deal!" I finally declare "I may not know your reasons, but I know one thing: you are not Marik!"

"This Millennium Rod is proof that I am Marik!" my opponent says taking out a staff-like object with a Wedjat eye on top of it "The Duel will continue as I foreseen and no one will listen to the words of a loser! Finish him off, Serket!"

"_This is far as I go!_" I think as I close my eyes and prepare myself for the impact... which doesn't happen. Why did he stop?

"This turn I shall prove that I am the wielder of the God Card" he says "I sacrifice Mystical Beast of Seret and half of my Life Points in order to Summon The Winged Dragon of Ra to the field!"

**LP Richard 100**

**LP "Marik" 1575**

As Serket disappears, the sarcophagus finally opens, a green flash coming out of it and hitting the sky. Afterwards, thunderbolts start manifesting as a giant golden dragon with a eagle's head appears, flames sorrounding its body (ATK: ?).

"Ra's Attack and Defense points are determined by the total Attack and Defense Points of the three sacrificed monsters" my opponent explains "But Serket absorbed Giga Gagagigo, Amphibian Beast and Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness, totaling in three monsters. Therefore The Winged Dragon of Ra's Attack power is 5975!"

He then looks at me. "Richard, you only have 200 Life Points. As Ra will attack, your loss will be granted"

"So this is the end, huh?" I say calmly while closing my eyes again and manifesting a small smile.

"Prepare yourself! Attack him, Ra!"

Strangely, Ra doesn't move. Instead it vanishes and more thunderbolts manifest, some of them even hitting the field. All of a sudden one of them hits my opponent and makes him faint.

"Hey! Hang in there!" I exclaim while running towards him. Unfortunately I also get hit by a thunderbolt.

* * *

"Mr. Tsunami! Mr. Tsunami!"

I slowly open my eyes and see that the one who's calling me is my former manager.

"Mr. Tsunami, it's already late! You need to prepare!"

"What? What do you mean?" I ask.

"Today is the American Championship Finals!" he explains "The one who wins this match will become the USA Champion!"

"Oh yeah, that's right!" I exclaim while getting up "Where is my Deck?"

"Right here" he says handing me my cards.

"Thank you! I'll prepare as fast as possible!"

* * *

As I open my eyes again and I get up I hear everyone cheering.

"Ya stood up!" Joey says.

"Huh? What is happening?" I ask before looking at my opponent "Why's he on the ground? Oh yeah! Now I remember! He Summoned Ra and then we both fainted"

"The winner of the Duel is Richard Tsunami!" Isono declares.

"I won?" I ask confused as everyone cheers.

I then slowly go towards my opponent. "Snap out of it! Come on!"

He opens his eyes weakily. "Richard..." he says "I am... proud... to have fought... against you..."

"Right back at you" I answer smiling "You're a great Duelist. But you're not Marik, right? Who are you really?"

"Do not think about me... stop Master Marik's..."

"Marik?" both me and Yugi say turning towards Namu, which is now groaning in pain while holding his head, since he's the one my opponent is pointing at.

Namu then turns towards us. "I am the real Marik, the one you've been fighting this whole time" he says "Yugi, in order to destroy you, I will do anything I can!"

He then screams as a Wedjat eye appears on his forehead. He then turns his head around and faces us again, a creepy smile on his face. "I finally broke free"

His voice is different.

"When Odion is around... I am hidden..." he says "Compared to me, the other Marik is a child. That's why he can never finish a Duel properly: he's afraid of the darkness. But... I love the darkness. To me, every single one of you are merely shadows, and Odion was one of the more convenient ones that disappeared"

"Damn you..." I curse.

"In that Duel he proved me something, though: the only ones capable of controlling the God Cards are only those connected to the Millennium Items. Right, Kaiba?"

Seto smirks. "I have no interest in your occult nonsense. But Obelisk obeys me as a loyal servant"

Marik chuckles. "We will find the answer soon enough... Now the Millennium battle can begin!"

* * *

**Altered cards:**

**Warrior of Atlantis  
Level 4  
Aqua-Type  
WATER  
ATK 1900  
DEF 1200  
(Author's note: I turned it into a Normal Monster. Why? 'cause I felt like it XD)**

**Finally Marik's evil half has finally awakened! Also, keep in mind that flashback 'cause it will be very important in later episodes... ****very**** later episodes. Until then, hasta la vista!**


End file.
